Acquisition and particular association of data indicative of an inferred mental state of an authoring user

ABSTRACT

A computationally implemented method includes, but is not limited to: acquiring data indicative of an inferred mental state of an authoring user in connection with at least a particular item of an electronic message, and associating the data indicative of the inferred mental state of the authoring user with the particular item. In addition to the foregoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to and claims the benefit of theearliest available effective filing date(s) from the following listedapplication(s) (the “Related Applications”) (e.g., claims earliestavailable priority dates for other than provisional patent applicationsor claims benefits under 35 USC §119(e) for provisional patentapplications, for any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent,etc. applications of the Related Application(s)).

Related Applications:

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/154,686, entitled DETERMINATION OF EXTENT OFCONGRUITY BETWEEN OBSERVATION OF AUTHORING USER AND OBSERVATION OFRECEIVING USER, naming Edward K. Y. Jung, Eric C. Leuthardt, Royce A.Levien, Robert W. Lord, Mark A. Malamud, John D. Rinaldo, Jr. and LowellL. Wood, Jr. as inventors, filed 23 May 2008, which is currentlyco-pending, or is an application of which a currently co-pendingapplication is entitled to the benefit of the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/157,611, entitled DETERMINATION OF EXTENT OFCONGRUITY BETWEEN OBSERVATION OF AUTHORING USER AND OBSERVATION OFRECEIVING USER, naming Edward K. Y. Jung, Eric C. Leuthardt, Royce A.Levien, Robert W. Lord, Mark A. Malamud, John D. Rinaldo, Jr. and LowellL. Wood, Jr. as inventors, filed 10 Jun. 2008, which is currentlyco-pending, or is an application of which a currently co-pendingapplication is entitled to the benefit of the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/215,683, entitled ACQUISITION AND ASSOCIATION OFDATA INDICATIVE OF AN INFERRED MENTAL STATE OF AN AUTHORING USER, namingEdward K. Y. Jung, Eric C. Leuthardt, Royce A. Levien, Robert W. Lord,Mark A. Malamud, John D. Rinaldo, Jr. and Lowell L. Wood, Jr. asinventors, filed 26 Jun. 2008, which is currently co-pending, or is anapplication of which a currently co-pending application is entitled tothe benefit of the filing date.

For purposes of the USPTO extra-statutory requirements, the presentapplication constitutes a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/217,131, entitled ACQUISITION AND ASSOCIATION OFDATA INDICATIVE OF AN INFERRED MENTAL STATE OF AN AUTHORING USER, namingEdward K. Y. Jung, Eric C. Leuthardt, Royce A. Levien, Robert W. Lord,Mark A. Malamud, John D. Rinaldo, Jr. and Lowell L. Wood, Jr. asinventors, filed 30 Jun. 2008, which is currently co-pending, or is anapplication of which a currently co-pending application is entitled tothe benefit of the filing date.

The United States Patent Office (USPTO) has published a notice to theeffect that the USPTO's computer programs require that patent applicantsreference both a serial number and indicate whether an application is acontinuation or continuation-in-part. Stephen G. Kunin, Benefit ofPrior-Filed Application, USPTO Official Gazette Mar. 18, 2003, availableat http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/sol/og/2003/week11/patbene.htm.The present Applicant Entity (hereinafter “Applicant”) has providedabove a specific reference to the application(s) from which priority isbeing claimed as recited by statute. Applicant understands that thestatute is unambiguous in its specific reference language and does notrequire either a serial number or any characterization, such as“continuation” or “continuation-in-part,” for claiming priority to U.S.patent applications. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Applicantunderstands that the USPTO's computer programs have certain data entryrequirements, and hence Applicant is designating the present applicationas a continuation-in-part of its parent applications as set forth above,but expressly points out that such designations are not to be construedin any way as any type of commentary and/or admission as to whether ornot the present application contains any new matter in addition to thematter of its parent application(s). All subject matter of the RelatedApplications and of any and all parent, grandparent, great-grandparent,etc. applications of the Related Applications is incorporated herein byreference to the extent such subject matter is not inconsistentherewith.

SUMMARY

A computationally implemented method includes, but is not limited to:acquiring data indicative of an inferred mental state of an authoringuser in connection with at least a particular item of an electronicmessage; and associating the data indicative of the inferred mentalstate of the authoring user with the particular item. In addition to theforegoing, other method aspects are described in the claims, drawings,and text forming a part of the present disclosure.

In one or more various aspects, related systems include but are notlimited to circuitry and/or programming for effecting theherein-referenced method aspects; the circuitry and/or programming canbe virtually any combination of hardware, software, and/or firmwareconfigured to effect the herein-referenced method aspects depending uponthe design choices of the system designer.

A computationally implemented system includes, but is not limited to:means for acquiring data indicative of an inferred mental state of anauthoring user in connection with at least a particular item of anelectronic message; and means for associating the data indicative of theinferred mental state of the authoring user with the particular item. Inaddition to the foregoing, other system aspects are described in theclaims, drawings, and text forming a part of the present disclosure.

A computationally implemented system includes, but is not limited to:circuitry for acquiring data indicative of an inferred mental state ofan authoring user in connection with at least a particular item of anelectronic message; and circuitry for associating the data indicative ofthe inferred mental state of the authoring user with the particularitem. In addition to the foregoing, other system aspects are describedin the claims, drawings, and text forming a part of the presentdisclosure.

A computer program product including a signal-bearing medium bearing oneor more instructions for acquiring data indicative of an inferred mentalstate of an authoring user in connection with at least a particular itemof an electronic message; and one or more instructions for associatingthe data indicative of the inferred mental state of the authoring userwith the particular item. In addition to the foregoing, other computerprogram product aspects are described in the claims, drawings, and textforming a part of the present disclosure.

The foregoing summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be inany way limiting. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments,and features described above, further aspects, embodiments, and featureswill become apparent by reference to the drawings and the followingdetailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows a high-level block diagram of a network device operating ina network environment.

FIG. 2A shows another perspective of the acquisition module of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2B shows another perspective of the association module of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2C shows another perspective of the action module of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2D shows another perspective of the time module of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2E shows another perspective of the user interface of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2F shows another perspective of the one or more sensors of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2G shows another perspective of the electronic message of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2H shows another perspective of the receiving network device ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 2I shows another perspective of the one or more sensors of thereceiving network device of FIG. 2H.

FIG. 2J shows another perspective of the user interface of the receivingnetwork device of FIG. 2H.

FIG. 2K shows another perspective of the acquisition module of thereceiving network device of FIG. 2H.

FIG. 2L shows another perspective of the remote network device of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a high-level logic flowchart of a process.

FIG. 4 is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting alternateimplementations of the acquisition operation 302 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5A is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting alternateimplementations of the observation operation 406 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 5B is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting morealternate implementations of the observation operation 406 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 5C is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting morealternate implementations of the observation operation 406 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 5D is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting morealternate implementations of the observation operation 406 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 5E is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting morealternate implementations of the observation operation 406 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 5F is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting morealternate implementations of the observation operation 406 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting morealternate implementations of the acquisition operation 302 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7A is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting some morealternate implementations of the acquisition operation 302 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7B is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting some morealternate implementations of the acquisition operation 302 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8A is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting alternateimplementations of the association operation 304 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 8B is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting alternateimplementations of the inclusion operation 802 of FIG. 8A.

FIG. 8C is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting alternateimplementations of the inclusion operation 818 of FIG. 8B.

FIG. 8D is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting morealternate implementations of the inclusion operation 818 of FIG. 8B.

FIG. 8E is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting morealternate implementations of the inclusion operation 818 of FIG. 8B.

FIG. 8F is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting morealternate implementations of the inclusion operation 818 of FIG. 8B.

FIG. 8G is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting morealternate implementations of the inclusion operation 818 of FIG. 8B.

FIG. 8H is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting morealternate implementations of the inclusion operation 818 of FIG. 8B.

FIG. 9A is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting morealternate implementations of the association operation 304 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 9B is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting some morealternate implementations of the association operation 304 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 9C is a high-level logic flowchart of a process depicting some morealternate implementations of the association operation 304 of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. In the drawings,similar symbols typically identify similar components, unless contextdictates otherwise. The illustrative embodiments described in thedetailed description, drawings, and claims are not meant to be limiting.Other embodiments may be utilized, and other changes may be made,without departing from the spirit or scope of the subject matterpresented here.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment in which one or more aspectsof various embodiments may be implemented. In the illustratedenvironment, an exemplary system 2 may include at least an authoringnetwork device 10 that may be used by an authoring user 18 in order to,for example, communicate through one or more wireless and/or wirednetworks 16. In some implementations, the authoring network device 10may be particularly designed and configured to facilitate the authoringuser 18 in acquiring data indicative of an inferred mental state of theauthoring user 18 in connection with a particular item 21 of anelectronic message 20 and associating such data to the particular item21. In some implementations, by doing so, a recipient of the electronicmessage 20, such as a receiving user 22 (e.g., via a receiving networkdevice 12) or a third party (e.g., via a third party network device 14),may be facilitated in correctly interpreting the proper meaning andintent of the particular item 21 when the electronic message 20 isreceived and presented to the recipient.

In addition to acquiring and associating the data indicative of theinferred mental state of the authoring user 18 to the particular item21, other types of information may be acquired and associated with theparticular item 21. For instance, in some implementations, the authoringnetwork device 10 may acquire and associate with the particular item 21a time stamp and/or an indication of an action performed in connectionwith the particular item 21. In some cases, such information may beuseful in associating the data indicative of the inferred mental stateof the authoring user 18 with the particular item 21. Note that thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that although authoring user18/receiving user 22 is depicted in the figures as an individual forsake of conceptual clarity, in some instances authoring user18/receiving user 22 may be considered as examples of sequential users,unless context dictates otherwise.

In various implementations, the electronic message 20 may be an emailmessage, a text message, an instant message (IM), an audio message, avideo message, or another type of electronic message. The particularitem 21 may be any part or portion of the electronic message 21. Forexample, if the electronic message 20 is an email message, then theparticular item 21 may be a passage, a paragraph, a sentence, a word, aphrase, an image, a symbol, a number, a letter, a format of a word orphrase (e.g., bold), or any other part or portion of the email message.

As will be further described, an inferred mental state of a subject(e.g., authoring user 18 or receiving user 22) may be a mental statethat has been inferred based, at least in part, on one or more sensed ormeasured physical characteristics of the subject. The term “physicalcharacteristics” as used herein may refer to both external physicalcharacteristics (e.g., facial expressions, skin characteristics, and/oriris characteristics) and/or physiological characteristics (e.g., bloodoxygen or blood volume changes of a subject's brain or the electricalactivities of the subject's brain). In various embodiments, the sensingor measurement of the physical characteristics of the subject may be inconnection with an “action” being executed by the subject with respectto the particular item 21.

For example, suppose the authoring user 18 creates and sends an emailmessage (e.g., electronic message 20) containing a particular item 21,in this case, a passage that includes a humorous story, to the receivinguser 22 with the intent to lighten the mood of the receiving user 22.Then the authoring network device 10 may be particularly designed andconfigured to acquire data indicative of an inferred mental state of theauthoring user 18 in connection with the creation (e.g., action) of theparticular item 21. In some implementations, this may be accomplished atleast in part by, for example, sensing one or more physicalcharacteristics of the authoring user 18 during or proximate to thecreation of the particular item 21. The data indicting the inferredmental state of the authoring user 18 may then be associated or taggedto the item (e.g., passage).

In some implementations, after associating such data to the particularitem 21, the data may then be provided or transmitted to a recipient(e.g., receiving user 22) in the electronic message 20 or by other means(e.g., in another electronic message). In doing so, the receiving user22 may deduce the inferred mental state of the authoring user 18 inconnection with the particular item 21 and may then be made aware ofwhether the recipient has misunderstood the intent, tone, and/or meaningof the particular item 21 (e.g., the receiving user 22 becomingmistakenly distressed by the particular item 21 because the recipientmisunderstood the tone of the humorous story) when reading theelectronic message 20.

The following example is provided that describes how data indicative ofthe inferred mental state of the authoring user 18 in connection with aparticular item 21 may be provided and used by a receiving user 22 inaccordance with some implementations. As described earlier, thereceiving user 22 may be facilitated in understanding the proper intentand meaning of a particular item 21 in the electronic message 20 bybeing provided with data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user 18 in connection with an action executed by the authoringuser 18 with respect to the particular item 21. Note that unlessindicated otherwise the term “particular item” as used herein merelyrefers to a specific item from a plurality of items that may be includedin an electronic message 20 (see, for example, FIG. 2G).

After receiving the data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user 18 from the authoring network device 10, a comparison ofthe inferred mental state of the authoring user 18 in connection withthe particular item 21 and the inferred mental state of the receivinguser 22 during or proximate to the presentation of the particular item21 to the receiving user 22 may be made at the receiving network device12. Note that the inferred mental state of the receiving user 22 withrespect to the presentation of the particular item 21 may be determinedbased, at least in part, on observations of one or more physicalcharacteristics of the receiving user 22 during or proximate to thepresentation of the particular item 2. In any event, the comparison ofthe inferred mental states of the authoring user 18 and the receivinguser 22 in connection with the particular item 21 may be made at thereceiving network device 12 in order to determine the extent ofcongruity between the mental states of the authoring user 18 and thereceiving user 22 with respect to the particular item 21. Alternatively,such comparison and congruity determination may be made at the thirdparty network device 14. By making such comparisons, the receiving user22 may be made aware as to whether the receiving user 22 properlyunderstood the intent and meaning of the particular item 21 when theparticular item 21 was presented to the receiving user 22.

For instance, in some cases if it is determined that there is verylittle congruence between the inferred mental state of the authoringuser 18 and the inferred mental state of the receiving user 22 inconnection with the particular item 21 then that may indicate that thereceiving user 22 has misunderstood the intent and/or meaning of theparticular item 21 when the particular item was presented to thereceiving user 22. Alternatively, a determination of very littlecongruence between the inferred mental state of the authoring user 18and inferred mental state of the receiving user 22 may, in some cases,actually indicate that the receiver user 22 did indeed understand theintent and meaning of the particular item 21 when the particular item 21was presented to the receiving user 22. For example, if the authoringuser 18 was in a sarcastic state of mind when creating the particularitem 21 with the intent to anger the receiving user 22 then there may bevery little congruence between the inferred mental state of theauthoring user 18 and the inferred mental state of the receiving user 22if the receiving user 22 properly understood the intent and meaning ofthe particular item 21.

Returning to FIG. 1, the authoring network device 10 may communicatewith the receiving network device 12, and in some instances, may alsocommunicate with a third party network device 14 via a wireless and/orwired network[s] 16. The authoring network device 10 may be any type ofcomputing and/or communication device such as a server (e.g., networkserver), a personal computer (PC), a laptop computer, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a cellular telephone, a blackberry, and so forth. Insome implementations, the authoring network device 10 may b aworkstation and may interface or communicate directly with the authoringuser 18. In some alternative implementations, however, in which theauthoring network device 10 is, for example, a network server, theauthoring network device 10 may communicate with the authoring user 18through a local or remote network device 50 via, for example, thewireless and/or wired network[s] 16.

The authoring network device 10 may include various componentsincluding, for example, an acquisition module 30 for acquiring dataindicative of an inferred mental state of the authoring user 18 inconnection with at least a particular item 21 of an electronic message20. Unless indicated otherwise, the term “acquiring” as used in thiscontext may refer to either determining or receiving of such data. Insome instances, the acquisition of the data may involve initiallyobserving or sensing one or more physical characteristics of theauthoring user 18 by employing one or more sensors 48 that may includeone or more integrated and/or external sensors. As will be furtherdescribed, the authoring network device may also include an associationmodule 32 (e.g., for associating the data indicative of inferred mentalstate of the authoring user 18 to the particular item 21), an actionmodule 34 (e.g., for executing one or more actions in connection withthe particular item 21), a time module 36 (e.g., for providing a timestamp or time window in connection with an action to be performed inconnection with the particular item 21), one or more of email, instantmessaging (IM), audio, and/or video applications 40, one or more networkcommunication interfaces 42, a user interface 44, and/or one or moresensors 48 (e.g., for sensing one or more physical characteristics ofthe authoring user 18).

Referring now to FIG. 2A showing particular implementations of theacquisition module 30 of the authoring network device 10 of FIG. 1. Asillustrated, the acquisition module 30 may include one or moresub-modules including, for example, a determination module 102, anobservation module 104, an inference module 106, and/or sensing module108.

In brief, the determination module 102 may be particularly configuredto, among other things, determine data indicative of an inferred mentalstate of an authoring user 18 in connection with a particular item 21 ofan electronic message 20. In various implementations, such adetermination may be based, at least in part, on one or more physicalcharacteristics of the authoring user 18.

The observation module 104, on the other hand, may be configured toobserve the one or more physical characteristics of the authoring user18 during or proximate to an action in connection with the particularitem 21 and performed, at least in part, by the authoring user 18. Insome implementations, the observance of the one or more physicalcharacteristics of the authoring user 18 may be through a time windowthat corresponds to a time window through which the action in connectionwith the particular item 21 is performed. As will be further described,the action to be performed may be any type of act that the authoringuser 18 may execute, at least in part, in direct connection with theparticular item 21. Examples of such acts may include, for example,creating, modifying, deleting, relocating, extracting, forwarding,storing, activating or deactivating, tagging, associating, categorizing,substituting, inserting, selecting, coloring, and so forth, of theparticular item 21.

Alternatively, the action to be performed may be other types of actsthat may be performed by the authoring user 18 that may be indirectlyconnected to the particular item 21. For example, such indirect acts mayinclude, for example, the movement of a user interface (UI) pointingdevice with respect to the particular item 21 being displayed on a userdisplay, specific movements of the authoring user's eyes (which may bedetected using a gaze tracking device) during or proximate to thepresentation of the particular item 21 through a user display, andspecific postures, gestures, and/or sounds made by the authoring user 18in connection with the presentation of the particular item 21 throughthe user interface 44.

The inference module 106 of the acquisition module 30 may be configuredto infer a mental state for the authoring user 18 in connection with theparticular item 21 based, at least in part, on one or more observedphysical characteristics of the authoring user 18. In someimplementations, the inference module 106, based on the one or moreobserved physical characteristics of the authoring user 18, may infer amental state for the authoring user 18 that indicates that the authoringuser 18 was or is in at least one of state of anger, a state ofdistress, and/or a state of pain. In the same or differentimplementations, the inference module 106, based on the one or moreobserved physical characteristics of the authoring user 18, may infer amental state for the authoring user 18 that indicates that the authoringuser 18 was or is in at least one of a state of frustration, a state ofapproval or disapproval, a state of trust, a state of fear, a state ofhappiness, a state of surprise, a state of inattention, a state ofarousal, a state of impatience, a state of confusion, a state ofdistraction, a state of overall mental activity, a state of alertness,and/or a state of acuity.

Finally, the sensing module 108 of the acquisition module 30 may beconfigured to sense one or more physical characteristics of theauthoring user 18 during or proximate to, for example, an actionperformed by the authoring user 18 related to the particular item 21.Various physical characteristics of the authoring user 18 may be sensedin various alternative embodiments. For example, in some embodiments,the sensing module 108 employing the one or more sensors 48 may sense,during or proximate to an action in connection with the particular item21 and performed, at least in party, by the authoring user, at least oneof cerebral, cardiopulmonary, and/or systemic physiologicalcharacteristic associated with the authoring user 18.

For example, in some implementations, the sensing module 108 may beconfigured to sense, during or proximate to an action in connection withthe particular item 21 and performed, at least in part, by the authoringuser 18, at least one characteristic connected with electrical activityof a brain associated with the authoring user 18. In the same ordifferent implementations, the sensing module 108 may be configured tosense, during or proximate to the action in connection with theparticular item 21 and performed, at least in part, by the authoringuser 18, at least one of blood oxygen or blood volume changes of a brainassociated with the authoring user 18. As will be further described, inthe same or different implementations, other types of physicalcharacteristics of the authoring user 18 may also be sensed by thesensing module 108.

As briefly described earlier, the authoring network device 10 mayinclude an association module 32 that may be configured to associate thedata (e.g., as acquired by the acquisition module 30) indicative of theinferred mental state of the authoring user 18 with the particular item21. Different approaches for associating the data indicative of theinferred mental state of the authoring user 18 with the particular item21 may be employed in various alternative implementations.

For example, in some embodiments, the data indicative of the inferredmental state of the authoring user 18 may be inserted into theelectronic message 20 at a particular location (e.g., at or proximate tothe location where the particular item 21 is located). In alternativeembodiments, however, the “data” (i.e., data indicative of the inferredmental state of the authoring user 18) may be inserted anywhere in theelectronic message 20, and information (e.g., in the form of a link orname) that identifies the data may be provided to the particular item21. In still other embodiments, the data may be inserted anywhere in theelectronic message 20, and information (e.g., in the form of a link orname) that identifies the particular item 21 may be provided to thedata. In still other embodiments, the data may be inserted into anotherelectronic message (e.g., a different electronic message from electronicmessage 20 that includes the particular item 21) and the data and/or theparticular item 21 may be provided with information that links orassociates the data with the particular item 21. In yet otherembodiments, the data may be stored or placed in, for example, a networkserver and the particular item 21 may be provided with a network linksuch as a hyperlink to the data. Other approaches may be employed invarious other alterative embodiments for associating the data indicativeof the inferred mental state of the authoring user 18 with theparticular item 21.

In some implementations, and as illustrated in FIG. 2B, the associationmodule 32 may further include an inclusion module 118 for includingvarious data into the electronic message 20. For example, in someimplementations, the inclusion module 118 may be configured to includeinto the electronic message 20 the data indicative of the inferredmental state of the authoring user 18 in connection with the particularitem 21. For these implementations, as well as in other implementations,the inclusion module 118 may also be configured to include into theelectronic message 20 a time stamp associated with the data indicativeof the inferred mental state of the authoring user 18. In someimplementations, the inclusion module 118 may be configured to includeinto the electronic message 20, one or more indications of one or moreactions performed by the authoring user 18 in connection with theparticular item 21 (e.g., creation or modification of the particularitem 21 as performed, at least in party, by the authoring user 18). Theinclusion module 118 may also be further designed to include into theelectronic message 20 various other types of data in various alternativeimplementations as will be further described herein.

In various embodiments, the action module 34 of the authoring networkdevice 10 may be employed for executing one or more actions inconnection with the particular item 21. In some implementations, theaction module 34 may be embodied, at least in part, by one or moreapplications such as a text messaging application, an email application,an instant messaging (IM) application, an audio application, and/or avideo application. As illustrated in FIG. 2C, the action module 34 mayinclude, in various implementations, one or more sub-modules including,for example, a creation module 112, a modification module 113, adeletion module 114, a relocation module 115, an extraction module 116,a forwarding module 117, a storing module 118, an activating ordeactivating module 119, a tagging module 120, an associating module121, a categorizing module 122, a substituting module 123, and/orinserting module 124.

In some embodiments, the action module 34 may be configured to provideindications of actions (e.g., creating, modifying, deleting, relocating,extracting, and so forth) performed using the action module 34. Suchindications may be in the form of, for example, an identifier (e.g.,name) or symbolic representation of the actions performed.

The creation module 112 may be employed in order to, among other things,create a particular item 21. The modification module 113 may be employedin order to modify the particular item 21. Modification in this contextmay refer to a number of functions including, for example, changing theformat of the particular item 21 (e.g., highlighting or bolding a word),adding or subtracting components into or from the particular item 21,and so forth. The deletion module 114 may be employed to, among otherthings, delete the particular item 21 from the electronic message 20.The relocation module 115 may be used in order to relocate theparticular item 21 from, for example, a first location in the electronicmessage 20 to a second location in the electronic message 20.

The extraction module 116 may be used in order to extract the particularitem 21 from the electronic message 20. In some implementations,extraction of the particular item 21 from the electronic message 20 mayinvolve merely copying of the particular item 21 from the electronicmessage 20. The forwarding module 117 may be employed in order to, amongother things, forward or send the particular item 21 to one or morerecipients. The storing module 118 may be used in order to store or savethe particular item 21. The activating and deactivating module 119 mayemployed in order to, among other things, activate or deactivate theparticular item 21. For example, if the electronic message 21 is anemail message and the particular item 21 is some sort of video/animationimage that can be activated or deactivated, then the activating anddeactivating module 119 may be used in order to activate or deactivatethe video/animation image.

The tagging module 120 may be employed in order to, among other things,tag or associate data or information to the particular item 21. Forexample, in some implementation, the tagging module 120 may be used inorder to add some sort of indicator to the particular item 21 to, forexample, flag the particular item 21. In contrast, the associatingmodule 121 may be employed in order to associate the particular item 21with, for example, another item. For instance, in some implementations,the associating module 121 may be used in order to associate theparticular item 21 to another item by providing to the particular item21 an identity or link (e.g., hyperlink) to the another item that may ormay not be included in the electronic message 20.

The categorizing module 122 may be employed in order to categorize theparticular item 21. For instance, the categorizing module 122 may beused to in order to associate the particular item 21 to a group of itemsthat may or may not be included in the electronic message 20.Categorizing using the categorizing module 122 may also include labelingor tagging, for example, the particular item 21 in order to identify theparticular item 21 as belonging to a particular group or class. Thesubstituting module 123 may be employed in order to substitute orreplace the particular item 21 in the electronic message 20. Andfinally, the inserting module 124 may be employed in order to insert theparticular item 21 into the electronic message 20

Referring now to FIG. 2D showing particular implementations of the timemodule 36 of FIG. 1. As depicted, the time module 36 may include one ormore sub-modules including, for example, a time stamp module 125 (e.g.,for providing one or more time stamps in connection with one or moreactions executed with respect to the particular item 21) and/or a timewindow module 126 (e.g., for providing one or more time stamps inconnection with one or more actions executed with respect to theparticular item 21). The functional roles of these sub-modules will bedescribed in greater detail below in the context of the operations andprocesses to be described herein.

FIG. 2E shows particular implementations of the user interface 44 of theauthoring network device 10 of FIG. 1. As illustrated, the userinterfaced 44, which may actually be one or more user interfaces, mayinclude one or more of a user display 130, a user touch screen 131, akeypad 132, a mouse 133, a microphone 134, a speaker system 135, and/ora video system 136.

Turning now to FIG. 2F showing particular implementations of the one ormore sensors 48 of FIG. 1. The one or more sensors 48, which may be oneor more integrated and/or external sensors of the authoring networkdevice 10, may be employed in order to sense one or more physicalcharacteristics of the authoring user 18 during or proximate to anaction performed by the authoring user 18 in connection with theparticular item 21. For example, and as will be further described, insome implementations, the one or more sensors 48 may be designed tosense one or more of cerebral, cardiopulmonary, and/or systemicphysiological characteristics of the authoring user 18 during orproximate to action performed by the authoring user 18 in connectionwith the particular item 21. In various embodiments, the one or moresensors 48 may include a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)device 140, a functional near-infrared imaging (fNIR) device 141, anelectroencephalography (EEG) device 142, a magnetoencephalography (MEG)device 143, a galvanic skin sensor device 144, a heart rate sensordevice 145, a blood pressure sensor device 146, a respiration sensordevice 147, a facial expression sensor device 148, a skin characteristicsensor device 149, a voice response device 150, a gaze tracking device151, and/or an iris response device 152.

In some implementations, the one or more sensors 48 may include one ormore sensors that are capable of measuring various brain characteristicsof the authoring user 18 during or proximate to an action performed bythe authoring user 18 in connection with the particular item 21. Thesesensors may include, for example, a functional magnetic resonanceimaging (fMRI) device 140, a functional near-infrared imaging (fNIR)device 141, an electroencephalography (EEG) device 142, and/or amagnetoencephalography (MEG) device 143. In some implementations, anfMRI device 140 and/or an fNIR device 141 may be employed in order tomeasure certain physiological characteristics of the brain of anauthoring user 18 including, for example, blood oxygen or blood volumechanges of the brain of the authoring user 18. In the same or differentimplementations, an EEG device 142 may be used to sense and measure theelectrical activities of the brain of the authoring user 18 while an MEGdevice 143 may be employed in order to sense and measure the magneticfields produced by electrical activities of the brain of the authoringuser 18.

Other type of devices may also be employed in order to measure the brainactivities of the authoring user 18 during or proximate to an actionperformed by the authoring user 18 in connection with the particularitem 21. Such devices may include, for example, a positron emissiontopography device. In various embodiments, the data collected from thesesensor devices may be further processed (e.g., by the inference module108) in order to determine an “inferred” mental state of the authoringuser 18 during or proximate to an action performed by the authoring user18 in connection with the particular item 21.

As will be further described, in some implementations, other types ofsensors such as those that measure other types of physicalcharacteristics may be employed as sensor[s] 48 (e.g., a galvanic skinsensor device 144, a heart rate sensor device 145, a blood pressuresensor device 146, a respiration sensor device 147, a facial expressionsensor device 148, a skin characteristic sensor device 149, a voiceresponse device 150, a gaze tracking device 151, and/or an iris responsedevice 152) in order to obtain data that may used (e.g., by theinference module 106) to determine the inferred mental state or statesof the authoring user 18 during or proximate to an action performed bythe authoring user 18 in connection with the particular item 21.

As previously indicated, the one or more sensors 48 may be used in orderto observe one or more physical characteristics of the authoring user 18in connection with the particular item 21 and in connection with anaction (e.g., creation, modification, or deletion of the particular item21) performed by the authoring user 18. For example, the one or moresensors 48 may be used to sense one or more physical characteristics ofthe authoring user 18 during or proximate to a modification (e.g.,action) by the authoring user 18 of the particular item 18. In someimplementations, this may mean selectively “switching on” or activatingthe one or more sensors 48 only during or proximate to the modification(e.g., action) of the particular item 21 of the electronic message 20 inorder to observe the one or more physical characteristics of theauthoring user 18. In contrast, the one or more sensors 48 may beswitched off or deactivated during or proximate to other actions thatmay be performed by the authoring user 18 in connection with other items(e.g., another particular item 22, item 3, item 4, and so forth of FIG.2G) of the electronic message 21. In alternative implementations,however, the one or more sensors 48 may be continuously operated (e.g.,not switched off and on as described above) in which case only dataprovided by the one or more sensors 48 during or proximate to themodification of the particular item 21 may be collected or used (e.g.,by the inference module 106). Note that the term “proximate” as usedherein may refer to, partly during, immediately subsequent, orimmediately preceding the action to be taken (e.g., modification) withrespect to the particular item 18

Data obtained from observations made using one or more such sensors 48may be collected by, for example, the acquisition module 30 in order toacquire data indicative of an inferred mental state of the authoringuser 18 in connection with, for example, the particular item 21. In someembodiments, raw data collected from the one or more sensors 48 may befurther processed by the inference module 106 in order to provide aninferred mental state for the authoring user 18 in connection with theparticular item 21. Thus, the data indicative of the inferred mentalstate acquired by the acquisition module 30 may be in the form of rawdata collected from the one or more sensors 48, or in the form ofprocessed data that directly infers a mental state of the authoring user18. As described earlier, in addition to being associated with orconnected to the particular item 21, data indicative of the inferredmental state of the authoring user 18 (e.g., as acquired by theacquisition module 30) may be connected or associated with a particularaction related to the particular item 21 and performed by the authoringuser 18. Such an action may include, for example, any one or more ofcreation, modification, deletion, relocation, extraction, forwarding,storing, activating or deactivating, tagging, associating, categorizing,substituting, inserting, and so forth, of the particular item 21 by theauthoring user 18.

FIG. 2G shows particular implementations of the electronic message 20 ofFIG. 1. The electronic message 20 may be any type of message that can beelectronically communicated including, for example, an email message, atext message, an instant message (IM), an audio message, a videomessage, and so forth. As shown, included in the electronic message 21are multiple items depicted as a particular item 21, another particularitem 22, item 3, item 4, and so forth. An “item” may be any part orpiece of the electronic message 20. For example, if the electronicmessage 20 is an email message, an item could be a passage, a sentence,a paragraph, a word, a letter, a number, a symbol (e.g., icon), animage, the format of text (e.g., bold, highlighting, font size, and soforth),

Also included in the electronic message 20 is data indicative of aninferred mental state of the authoring user 18 in connection with theparticular item 21, which is depicted as inference data 23. In someimplementations, inference data 23 may only be connected or associatedwith particular item 21 without being associated with the other items(e.g., another particular item 22, item 3, item 4, and so forth) of theelectronic message 20. For these implementations, each item (e.g.,particular item 21, another particular item 22, item 3, item 4, and soforth) of the electronic message 20 may be associated with correspondinginference data (e.g., inference data 23, inference data 24, inferencedata 3, inference data 4, and so forth). Each inference data (e.g.,inference data 23, inference data 24, inference data 3, inference data4, and so forth) may indicate an inferred mental state of the authoringuser 18 with respect to their associated item. For instance, in FIG. 2Gparticular item 21 may be associated with inference data 23 (e.g., basedon the proximate location of the inference data 23 in the electronicmessage 20 with respect to the location of the particular item 21) thatis indicative of an inferred mental state of the authoring user 18 inconnection with the particular item 21 while another particular item 22is associated with inference data 24 that is indicative of the inferredmental state of the authoring user 18 in connection with the anotherparticular item 22.

In some alternative implementations, inference data 23 may be associatedwith more than one item. For instance, in some implementations, theinference data 23, which again is data indicative of an inferred mentalstate of the authoring user 18, may be connected to both the particularitem 21 and another particular item 22. Note that although inferencedata 23 is depicted as being located adjacent or in the vicinity of theparticular item 21 in the example electronic message 20 of FIG. 2G, inalternative implementations, however, the inference data 23 may belocated elsewhere in the electronic message 20. In yet otherimplementations, inference data 23 may be placed in another electronicmessage (not depicted) instead of in the electronic message 20. In someimplementations, inference data 23 may be included in the electronicmessage 20 in the form of metadata.

Turning now to FIG. 2H, which shows the receiving network device 12 ofFIG. 1 in accordance with various implementations. More particularly,FIG. 2H depicts the receiving network device 12 having some of the samecomponents as the authoring network device 10 depicted in FIG. 1. Forinstance, and similar to the authoring network device 10, the receivingnetwork device 12 may include an acquisition module 70, a networkcommunication interface 78, one or more of email, IM, audio, and/orvideo applications 80, user interface 82, and one or more sensors 84. Aswill be explained, with certain exceptions, each of these components mayinclude the same sub-components or sub-modules as those included intheir counterparts in the authoring network device 10. For example, theone or more sensors 84 may include (see FIG. 2I) one or more of a fMRIdevice 140′, an fNIR device 141′, an EEG device 142′, an MEG device143′, and so forth, while the acquisition module 70 may include (seeFIG. 2K) a determination module 102′, an inference module 106′, anobservation module 104′, and/or a sensing module 108′ similar to theircounterparts in the authoring network device 10. Further, thesecomponents may serve the same or similar functions as those functionsperformed by their counterparts in the authoring networking device 10.

In addition to the above described components, the receiving networkdevice 12 may also include a reception module 72, an inferred mentalstate comparison module 74, and a presentation module 76. In brief, thereception module 72 may be configured to receive, among other things, aparticular item 21 of an electronic message 20, data indicative of theinferred mental state of an authoring user 18 in connection with theparticular item 21 (which may be included in the electronic message 21or in another electronic message), a time stamp associated with theparticular item 21, and/or an indication of an action performed by theauthoring user 18 in connection with the particular item 21. Theinferred mental state comparison module 74 may be configured to, forexample, compare the inferred mental state of the receiving user 22(e.g., in connection with the presentation of the particular item 21 tothe receiving user 22) with the inferred mental state of the authoringuser 18 (e.g., in connection with action performed with respect to theparticular item 21).

Note that the data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user 18 that is received by the reception module 72 may be inat least one of two different forms. In the first form, the receiveddata may be sensor provided data (e.g., “raw” data) of one or morephysical characteristics of the authoring user 18. In someimplementations, such data may be further processed by the receivingnetwork device 12 in order to derive one or more inferred mental statesof the authoring user 18. In the second form, the received inferredmental state data may be “processed” data (e.g., as processed by theauthoring network device 10 via, for example, the inference module 106)as a result of processing the “raw” data provided by one or more sensors48. The processed data may directly indicate or identify an inferredmental state of the authoring user 18 in connection with an actionperformed by the authoring user 18 with respect to the particular item21.

As described earlier, the receiving network device 12 may furtherinclude an inferred mental state comparison module 74. The inferredmental state comparison module 74 may be employed in order to compare aninferred mental state of the authoring user 18 with an inferred mentalstate of the receiving user 22 in connection with a particular item 21of an electronic message 20. Such a comparison may be used in order todetermine the congruity between the inferred mental state of theauthoring user 18 and the inferred mental state of the receiving user 22in connection with the particular item 21. The results of the comparisonand congruence determination may then be presented to the receiving user22 via the presentation module 76. Note that in various implementationsthe inferred mental state of the receiving user 22 may be obtained, atleast in part, by using one or more sensors 84 in order to observe oneor more physical characteristics of the receiving user 22 during orproximate to the presentation of the particular item 21.

In order to derive an inferred mental state of the receiving user 22during or proximate to the presentation (e.g., display) of theparticular item 21 to the receiving user 22, one or more physicalcharacteristics of the receiving user 22 may be observed during orproximate to the presentation of the particular item 21 to the receivinguser 22 using the one or more sensors 84. Referring to FIG. 2I whichshows the one or more sensors 84 of the receiving network device 12 inaccordance with various embodiments. The one or more sensors 80 mayinclude a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) device 140′, afunctional near-infrared imaging (fNIR) device 141′, anelectroencephalography (EEG) device 142′, a magnetoencephalography (MEG)device 143′, a galvanic skin sensor device 144′, a heart rate sensordevice 145′, a blood pressure sensor device 146′, a respiration sensordevice 147′, a facial expression sensor device 148′, a skincharacteristic sensor device 149′, a voice response device 150′, a gazetracking device 151′, and/or an iris response device 152′).

Turning now to FIG. 2J which shows the user interface 82 of thereceiving network device 12, in accordance with various embodiments. Asdepicted in FIG. 2J, the user interface 82 may include a user display130′, a user touch screen 131′, a keypad 132′, a mouse 133′, amicrophone 134′, a speaker system 135′, and/or a video system 136′.

FIG. 2K illustrates the acquisition module 70 of the receiving networkdevice 12 in accordance with various embodiments. As illustrated,acquisition module 70 may include one or more sub-modules including adetermination module 102′, an observation module 104′, an inferencemodule 106′, and/or sensing module 108′, similar to the sub-modules thatmay be included in the acquisition module 30 of the authoring networkdevice 10. These sub-modules may perform functions similar to thefunctions performed by their counterparts in the acquisition module 30of the authoring network device 10. For example, the determinationmodule 102′ may be employed in order to determine data indicative of aninferred mental state of the receiving user 22 based on one or morephysical characteristics of the receiving user 22. The observationmodule 104′ may be employed in order to observe the one or more physicalcharacteristics of the receiving user 22. The inference module 106′ maybe employed in order to infer a mental state for the receiving user 22in connection with the particular item 21. And the sensing module 108′may be employed in order to sense one or more physical characteristicsof the receiving user 22 in connection with, for example, thepresentation to the receiving user 22 of the particular item 21.

In various embodiments, the inference modules 106/106′ of theacquisition modules 30/70 of the authoring network device 18 and thereceiving network device 12 may employ different techniques or models inorder to infer one or more mental states from observed physicalcharacteristics of a subject (e.g., authoring user 18 or receiving user22). In some implementations, this may mean associating particularphysical characteristics or patterns of physical characteristics to oneor more mental states (i.e., inferred mental states).

For example, if the one or more sensors 48 depicted in FIG. 1 include anfMRI device 140, then the fMRI device 140 may be used in order to scanthe brain of the subject (e.g., authoring user 18) during or proximateto an action (e.g., creation, modification, deletion, and so forth)performed by the authoring user 18 in connection with the particularitem 21. As a result of the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)procedure performed using the fMRI device 140, a profile or a pattern ofbrain activities (e.g., blood oxygen and/or blood volume changes of thebrain) of the authoring user 18 during or proximate to the execution ofthe action in connection with the particular item 21 may be obtained.The determined “brain activity pattern” may then be compared to brainactivity patterns that may have been previously recorded and stored in adatabase or library (each of the stored brain activity patterns beinglinked with, for example, corresponding mental states). In someimplementations, such a database or library may include informationrelative to the subject (e.g., in this case, the authoring user 18)including, for example, log of raw sensor data or data of mappingsbetween sensor data and known or inferred mental states that may be usedin order to “calibrate” data received from the one or more sensors 48.Alternatively, a model may be employed that associates, for example,different patterns of brain activities with different mental states.Such a model may be used in conjunction with data received from othertypes of sensors (e.g., those types of sensors that do not measure brainactivities) in order to associate, for example, a pattern of brainactivity with one or more mental states.

Such a database or library may contain numerous brain activity patternsthat may have been obtained by sampling a number of people from thegeneral population, having, for example, similar metrics (e.g., age,gender, race, education, and so forth) as the subject (e.g., authoringuser 18). By asking each person what they felt (e.g., mental state) atthe time when their brain activity pattern was recorded, or by using,for example, some other established testing procedures, each brainactivity pattern stored in the library or database may be associatedwith one or more mental states. As a result, by comparing the determinedbrain activity pattern of the authoring user 18 with the brain activitypatterns stored in the database or library, one or more mental statesmay be inferred from the observed physical characteristics of theauthoring user 18.

Referring to FIG. 2L, which illustrates the remote network device 50 ofFIG. 1, in accordance with various embodiments. As briefly describedearlier, a remote network device 50 may be employed in somecircumstances when, for example, the authoring network device 10 is anetwork server and a remote network device 50 may be needed in order tocollect data with respect to the particular item 21 and/or dataindicative of the inferred mental state of the authoring user 18 inconnection with the particular item 21. As depicted, the remote networkdevices 50 may include components similar to those components depictedin the authoring network device 10 of FIG. 1. For example, and asillustrated, the remote network device 50 may include, an acquisitionmodule 30″, an association module 32″, an editing module 34″, apresentation module 38″, a reception module 39″, one or more email, IM,audio, and/or video applications 40″, a network communication interface42″, a user interface 44″, and one or more sensors 48″. These componentsmay further include sub-components and sub-modules similar to thesub-components and sub-modules previously depicted for the authoringnetwork device 10 (e.g., the acquisition module 30″ may include adetermination module, an inference module, an observation module, and asensing module similar to the acquisition module 30 depicted in FIG.2A).

Referring back to FIG. 1, the various components (e.g., acquisitionmodule 30, association module 32, action module 34, time module 36, andso forth) along with their sub-components or sub-modules included withthe authoring network device 10 may be embodied by hardware, softwareand/or firmware. For example, in some implementations the acquisitionmodule 30, the association module 32, the action module 34, and the timemodule 36 may be implemented with a processor (e.g., microprocessor,controller, and so forth) executing computer readable instructions(e.g., computer program product) stored in a storage medium (e.g.,volatile or non-volatile memory) such as a signal-bearing medium.Alternatively, hardware such as application specific integrated circuit(ASIC) may be employed in order to implement such modules in somealternative implementations.

FIG. 3 illustrates an operational flow 300 representing exampleoperations related to acquisition and association of data indicative ofan inferred mental state of an authoring user in connection with atleast a particular item of an electronic message. In variousembodiments, the operational flow 300 may be executed by, for example,the authoring network device 10 or the remote network device 50 ofFIG. 1. That is, although the following processes and operations will begenerally described in the context of the authoring network device 10executing such processes and operations, these processes and operationsmay also be executed via the remote network device 50 in variousalternative implementations. In FIG. 3 and in the following figures thatinclude various examples of operational flows, discussions andexplanations may be provided with respect to the above-describedexemplary environment of FIG. 1, and/or with respect to other examples(e.g., as provided in FIGS. 2A-2L) and contexts. However, it should beunderstood that the operational flows may be executed in a number ofother environments and contexts, and/or in modified versions of FIGS. 1and 2A-2L. Also, although the various operational flows are presented inthe sequence(s) illustrated, it should be understood that the variousoperations may be performed in other orders than those which areillustrated, or may be performed concurrently.

Further, in FIG. 3 and in following figures, various operations may bedepicted in a box-within-a-box manner. Such depictions may indicate thatan operation in an internal box may comprise an optional exampleembodiment of the operational step illustrated in one or more externalboxes. However, it should be understood that internal box operations maybe viewed as independent operations separate from any associatedexternal boxes and may be performed in any sequence with respect to allother illustrated operations, or may be performed concurrently.

In any event, after a start operation, the operational flow 300 may moveto an acquisition operation 302, where acquiring data indicative of aninferred mental state of an authoring user in connection with at least aparticular item of an electronic message may be performed by theauthoring network device 10 of FIG. 1. For instance, the acquisitionmodule 30 of the authoring network device 10 acquiring (e.g., byreceiving from the remote network device 50 or by self-determining) dataindicative of an inferred mental state (e.g., state of happiness, stateof anger, state of distress, and so forth) an authoring user 18 inconnection with at least a particular item 21 of an electronic message20.

The data to be acquired may be in the form of raw or unprocessed datacollected from, for example, one or more sensors 48 (e.g., an fMRIdevice 140, an fNIR device 141, an EEG device 142, and/or an MEG device143), which when processed, may provide data that identifies one or moreinferred mental states (e.g., state of happiness, state of anger, stateof distress, and so forth) of the authoring user 18. Alternatively, thedata to be acquired may be in the form of data (e.g., as provided by aninference module 106) that may directly identify one or more inferredmental states of the authoring user 18.

The operational flow 300 may then move to an association operation 304where associating the data indicative of the inferred mental state ofthe authoring user with the particular item may be executed by theauthoring network device 10. For example, the association module 32 ofthe authoring network device 10 associating data (e.g., as provided byone or more sensors 48 and/or as provided by an inference module 106)indicative of the inferred mental state (e.g., state of happiness, stateof anger, state of distress, and so forth) of the authoring user 18 withthe particular item 21.

In various embodiments, the acquisition operation 302 of FIG. 3 mayinclude one or more additional operations as illustrated in, forinstance, FIG. 4. For example, in some embodiments, the acquisitionoperation 302 may include an operation 402 for acquiring data indicativeof an inferred mental state or states of the authoring user inconnection with the particular item and in connection with anotherparticular item of the electronic message. That is, in variousembodiments, data indicative of an inferred mental state or states ofthe authoring user 18 that may be connected to more than one item of anelectronic message may be acquired. For instance, in someimplementations, the acquisition module 30 of the authoring networkdevice 10 acquiring (e.g., based on data provided by one or more sensors48 including an fMRI device 140, an fNIR device 141, an EEG device 142,and/or MEG device 143) data indicative of an inferred mental state orstates (e.g., state of anger, state of distress, and/or state of pain)of the authoring user 18 in connection with the particular item 21 andin connection with another particular item 22 of the electronic message20.

In some embodiments, the acquisition operation 302 may include adetermination operation 404 for determining the data indicative of theinferred mental state of the authoring user based on one or morephysical characteristics of the authoring user. For instance, in someimplementations, the determination module 102 (see FIG. 2A) of theauthoring network device 10 determining the data indicative of theinferred mental state (e.g., a state of frustration, a state of approvalor disapproval, a state of trust, a state of fear, a state of happiness,a state of surprise, a state of inattention, a state of arousal, a stateof impatience, a state of confusion, a state of distraction, a state ofoverall mental activity, a state of alertness, or a state of acuity) ofthe authoring user 19 based on one or more physical characteristics(e.g., as sensed by one or more sensors including, for example, agalvanic skin sensor device 144, a heart rate sensor device 145, and soforth) of the authoring user 18.

In some embodiments the determination operation 404 may include one ormore additional operations. For example, in some embodiments, thedetermination operation 404 may include an observation operation 406 forobserving the one or more physical characteristics of the authoring userduring or proximate to an action in connection with the particular itemand performed, at least in part, by the authoring user. For instance, insome implementation, the observation module 104 (see FIG. 2A) of theauthoring network device 10 observing (e.g. via one or more sensors 48including, for example, blood pressure sensor device 146, respirationsensor device 147, facial expression sensor device 148, and so forth)the one or more physical characteristics (e.g., blood pressure,respiration, facial expressions, and so forth) of the authoring user 18during or proximate to an action (e.g., any one or more of creating,modifying, deleting, relocating, and so forth, of the particular item21) in connection with the particular item 21 and performed, at least inpart, by the authoring user 18.

In some embodiments, the observation operation 406 may further includeone or more additional operations. For example, and as illustrated inFIG. 5A, the observation operation 406 in some embodiments may includean inference operation 502 for inferring a mental state of the authoringuser based, at least in part, on the observing of the one or morephysical characteristics of the authoring user during or proximate tothe action in connection with the particular item and performed, atleast in part, by the authoring user. For instance, in someimplementations, the inference module 106 of the authoring networkdevice 10 inferring a mental state of the authoring user 18 based, atleast in part, on the observing (e.g., via one or more sensors 48including, for example, an EEG device 142 and/or MEG device 143) of theone or more physical characteristics (e.g., brain activity) of theauthoring user 18 during or proximate to the action (e.g., any one ormore of creating, modifying, deleting, and so forth) in connection withthe particular item 21 and performed, at least in part, by the authoringuser 18. For these implementations, the inference to a particular mentalstate for the authoring user 18 may be made by, for example, determininga brain activity pattern for the authoring user 18 based on dataprovided by the one or more sensors 48 (e.g., an EEG device 142 and/oran MEG device 143) and then comparing the determined brain activitypattern of the authoring user 18 to brain activity patterns that may bestored in a database or library (each of the stored brain activitypatterns being linked with, for example, a corresponding mental state).

As further depicted in FIG. 5A, inference operation 502 may furtherinclude one or more additional operations in various alternativeembodiments. For example, in some embodiments, inference operation 502may include an operation 504 for inferring a mental state of theauthoring user indicating that the authoring user was in at least one ofa state of anger, a state of distress, or a state of pain during orproximate to the action in connection with the particular item. Forinstance, the inference module 106 of the authoring network device 10inferring a mental state of the authoring user 18 (e.g., based on dataprovided by one or more sensors 48 including, for example, an fMRIdevice 140 and/or an fNIR device 141) indicating that the authoring user18 was in at least one of a state of anger, a state of distress, or astate of pain during or proximate to the action (e.g., any one more ofextracting, forwarding, storing, and so forth) in connection with theparticular item 21.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the inference operation 502 mayinclude an operation 506 for inferring a mental state of the authoringuser indicating that the authoring user was in at least one of a stateof frustration, a state of approval or disapproval, a state of trust, astate of fear, a state of happiness, a state of surprise, a state ofinattention, a state of arousal, a state of impatience, a state ofconfusion, a state of distraction, a state of overall mental activity, astate of alertness, or a state of acuity during or proximate to theaction in connection with the particular item as depicted in FIG. 5A.For instance, the inference module 106 of the authoring network device10 inferring a mental state of the authoring user 18 (e.g., based ondata provided by one or more sensors 48 including, for example, an EEGdevice 142 and/or an MEG device 143) indicating that the authoring user18 was in at least one of a state of frustration, a state of approval ordisapproval, a state of trust, a state of fear, a state of happiness, astate of surprise, a state of inattention, a state of arousal, a stateof impatience, a state of confusion, a state of distraction, a state ofoverall mental activity, a state of alertness, or a state of acuityduring or proximate to the action (e.g., any one or more of activating,deactivating, tagging, associating, and so forth) in connection with theparticular item 21.

In some embodiments, the observation operation 406 may include one ormore sensing operations as illustrated in FIGS. 5B and 5C. For example,in some embodiments, the observation operation 406 may include a sensingoperation 507 for sensing, during or proximate to the action inconnection with the particular item and performed, at least in part, bythe authoring user, at least one cerebral characteristic associated withthe authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 5B. For instance, the sensingmodule 108 (see FIG. 2A) of the authoring network device 10 sensing(e.g., via an fMRI device 140, an fNIR device 141, an EEG device 142,and/or an MEG device 143), during or proximate to the action (e.g., anyone or more of categorizing, substituting, inserting, and so forth) inconnection with the particular item 21 and performed, at least in part,by the authoring user 18, at least one cerebral characteristic (e.g.,electrical activity or blood oxygen changes of a brain) associated withthe authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include a sensing operation 508 for sensing, during or proximate tothe action in connection with the particular item and performed, atleast in part, by the authoring user, at least one cardiopulmonarycharacteristic associated with the authoring user as illustrated in FIG.5B. For instance, the sensing module 108 of the authoring network device10 sensing (e.g., via a heart rate sensor device 145), during orproximate to the action (e.g., any one or more of creating, modifying,deleting, and so forth) in connection with the particular item 21 andperformed, at least in part, by the authoring user 18, at least onecardiopulmonary characteristic (e.g., heart rate) associated with theauthoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include a sensing operation 509 for sensing, during or proximate tothe action in connection with the particular item and performed, atleast in part, by the authoring user, at least one systemicphysiological characteristic associated with the authoring user asillustrated in FIG. 5B. For instance, the sensing module 108 of theauthoring network device 10 sensing (e.g., via a blood pressure sensordevice 146 and/or a respiration sensor device 147), during or proximateto the action (e.g., any one or more of relocating, extracting,extracting, and so forth) in connection with the particular item 21 andperformed, at least in part, by the authoring user 18, at least onesystemic physiological characteristic (e.g., blood pressure and/orrespiration) associated with the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include a sensing operation 510 for sensing, during or proximate tothe action in connection with the particular item and performed, atleast in part, by the authoring user, at least one of galvanic skinresponse, heart rate, blood pressure, or respiration associated with theauthoring user as illustrated in FIG. 5B. For instance, the sensingmodule 108 of the authoring network device 10 sensing (e.g., via agalvanic skin sensor device 144, a heart rate sensor device 145, a bloodpressure sensor device 146, and/or respiration sensor device 147),during or proximate to the action (e.g., any one or more of forwarding,storing, activating or deactivating, tagging, and so forth) inconnection with the particular item 21 and performed, at least in part,by the authoring user 18, at least one of galvanic skin response, heartrate, blood pressure, or respiration associated with the authoring user18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include a sensing operation 511 for sensing, during or proximate tothe action in connection with the particular item and performed, atleast in part, by the authoring user, at least one of blood oxygen orblood volume changes of a brain associated with the authoring user asillustrated ion FIG. 5B. For instance, the sensing module 108 of theauthoring network device 10 sensing (e.g., via an fMRI device 140 and/orfNIR device 141), during or proximate to the action (e.g., any one ormore of associating, categorizing, substituting inserting, and so forth)in connection with the particular item 21 and performed, at least inpart, by the authoring user 18, at least one of blood oxygen or bloodvolume changes of a brain associated with the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include a sensing operation 512 for sensing, during or proximate tothe action in connection with the particular item and performed, atleast in part, by the authoring user, at least a characteristicconnected with electrical activity of a brain associated with theauthoring user as illustrated in FIG. 5C. For instance, the sensingmodule 108 of the authoring network device 10 sensing (e.g., via an EEGdevice 142 and/or an MEG device 143), during or proximate to the action(e.g., any one or more of associating, creating, modifying, deleting,and so forth) in connection with the particular item 21 and performed,at least in part, by the authoring user 18, at least a characteristicconnected with electrical activity of a brain associated with theauthoring user 18. For example, if an MEG device 143 is used then themagnetic fields produced by the electrical activities of the brain ofthe authoring user 18 may be sensed.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include a sensing operation 513 for sensing, during or proximate tothe action in connection with the particular item and performed, atleast in part, by the authoring user, at least one of facial expression,skin characteristic, voice characteristic, eye movement, or irisdilation associated with the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 5C.For instance, the sensing module 108 of the authoring network device 10sensing (e.g., via a facial expression sensor device 148, skincharacteristic sensor device 149, voice response device 150, gazetracking device 151, and/or iris response device 152), during orproximate to the action (e.g., one or more of relocating, extractingforwarding, and so forth) in connection with the particular item 21 andperformed, at least in part, by the authoring user 18, at least one offacial expression, skin characteristic, voice characteristic, eyemovement, or iris dilation associated with the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include a sensing operation 514 for sensing, during or proximate tothe action in connection with the particular item and performed, atleast in part, by the authoring user, one or more physicalcharacteristics of the authoring user in a response associated with afunctional magnetic resonance imaging procedure on the authoring user asillustrated in FIG. 5C. For instance, the sensing module 108 of theauthoring network device 10 sensing (e.g., via an fMRI device 140),during or proximate to the action (e.g., one or more of storing,activating or deactivating, tagging, associating, and so forth) inconnection with the particular item 21 and performed, at least in part,by the authoring user 18, one or more physical characteristics (e.g.,blood oxygen or blood volume changes of the brain) of the authoring user18 in a response associated with a functional magnetic resonance imagingprocedure on the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include a sensing operation 515 for sensing, during or proximate tothe action in connection with the particular item and performed, atleast in part, by the authoring user, one or more physicalcharacteristics of the authoring user in a response associated with afunctional near infrared procedure on the authoring user as illustratedin FIG. 5C. For instance, the sensing module 108 of the authoringnetwork device 10 sensing (e.g., via an fNIR device 141), during orproximate to the action (e.g., one or more of categorizing,substituting, inserting, and so forth) in connection with the particularitem 21 and performed, at least in part, by the authoring user 18, oneor more physical characteristics (e.g., blood oxygen or blood volumechanges of the brain) of the authoring user 18 in a response associatedwith a functional near infrared procedure on the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include a terminating operation 518 for terminating the observing ofthe one or more physical characteristics of the authoring user during orproximate to an action or actions performed by the authoring user and inconnection with other item or items of the electronic message asillustrated in FIG. 5D. For instance, the observation module 104 (seeFIG. 2A) of the authoring network device 10 terminating the observing(e.g., via one or more of fMRI device 140, fNIR device 141, EEG device142, MEG device 143, and so forth) of the one or more physicalcharacteristics (e.g., cerebral characteristics) of the authoring user18 during or proximate to an action or actions (e.g., one or more ofcreating, modifying, deleting, and so forth) performed by the authoringuser 18 and in connection with other item or items (e.g., anotherparticular item 22, item 3, and/or item 4 in FIG. 2G) of the electronicmessage 20.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include an observation operation 520 for observing the one or morephysical characteristics of the authoring user during or proximate to acreating of the particular item by the authoring user as illustrated inFIG. 5D. For example, the observation module 104 of the authoringnetwork device 10 observing (e.g., via an fMRI device 140) the one ormore physical characteristics (e.g., blood oxygen or blood volumechanges of a brain) of the authoring user 18 during or proximate to acreating (e.g., via a creation module 112) of the particular item 21 bythe authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include an observation operation 522 for observing the one or morephysical characteristics of the authoring user during or proximate to adeleting of the particular item by the authoring user as illustrated inFIG. 5D. For example, the observation module 104 of the authoringnetwork device 10 observing (e.g., via an fNIR device 141) the one ormore physical characteristics (e.g., blood oxygen or blood volumechanges of a brain) of the authoring user 18 during or proximate to adeleting (e.g., via a deletion module 114) of the particular item 21 bythe authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include an observation operation 524 for observing the one or morephysical characteristics of the authoring user during or proximate to amodifying of the particular item by the authoring user as illustrated inFIG. 5D. For instance, the observation module 104 of the authoringnetwork device 10 observing (e.g., via an EEG device 142) the one ormore physical characteristics (e.g., electrical activity of the brain)of the authoring user 18 during or proximate to a modifying (e.g., via amodification module 113) of the particular item 21 by the authoring user18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include an observation operation 526 for observing the one or morephysical characteristics of the authoring user during or proximate to arelocating in the electronic message of the particular item by theauthoring user as illustrated in FIG. 5E. For instance, the observationmodule 104 of the authoring network device 10 observing (e.g., via anMEG device 143) the one or more physical characteristics (e.g., acharacteristic associated with electrical activity of the brain) of theauthoring user 18 during or proximate to a relocating (e.g., via arelocation module 115) in the electronic message 20 of the particularitem 21 by the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include an observation operation 528 for observing the one or morephysical characteristics of the authoring user during or proximate to anextracting of the particular item by the authoring user as illustratedin FIG. 5E. For instance, the observation module 104 of the authoringnetwork device 10 observing (e.g., via a galvanic skin sensor device)the one or more physical characteristics (e.g., galvanic skin response)of the authoring user 18 during or proximate to an extracting (e.g., viaan extraction module 116) of the particular item 21 by the authoringuser 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include an observation operation 530 for observing the one or morephysical characteristics of the authoring user during or proximate to aforwarding of the particular item by the authoring user as illustratedin FIG. 5E. For instance, the observation module 104 of the authoringnetwork device 10 observing (e.g., via a heart rate sensor device 145)the one or more physical characteristics (e.g., heart rate) of theauthoring user 18 during or proximate to a forwarding (e.g., via aforwarding module 117) of the particular item 21 by the authoring user18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include an observation operation 532 for observing the one or morephysical characteristics of the authoring user during or proximate to astoring of the particular item by the authoring user as illustrated inFIG. 5E. For instance, the observation module 104 of the authoringnetwork device 10 observing (e.g., via a blood pressure sensor device146) the one or more physical characteristics (e.g., blood pressure) ofthe authoring user 18 during or proximate to a storing (e.g., via astoring module 118) of the particular item 21 by the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include an observation operation 534 for observing the one or morephysical characteristics of the authoring user during or proximate to anactivating or deactivating of the particular item by the authoring useras illustrated in FIG. 5E. For instance, the observation module 104 ofthe authoring network device 10 observing (e.g., via a respirationsensor device 147) the one or more physical characteristics (e.g.,respiration) of the authoring user 18 during or proximate to anactivating or deactivating (e.g., via an activating and deactivatingmodule 119) of the particular item 21 by the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include an observation operation 536 for observing the one or morephysical characteristics of the authoring user during or proximate to atagging of the particular item by the authoring user as illustrated inFIG. 5E. For instance, the observation module 104 of the authoringnetwork device 10 observing (e.g., via a facial expression sensor device148) the one or more physical characteristics (e.g., facial expression)of the authoring user 18 during or proximate to a tagging (e.g., via atagging module 120) of the particular item 21 by the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include an observation operation 538 for observing the one or morephysical characteristics of the authoring user during or proximate to anassociating by the authoring user of the particular item to another itemas illustrated in FIG. 5F. For instance, the observation module 104 ofthe authoring network device 10 observing (e.g., via a skincharacteristic sensor device 149) the one or more physicalcharacteristics (e.g., skin characteristics) of the authoring user 18during or proximate to an associating (e.g., via an associating module121) by the authoring user 18 of the particular item 21 to another item(e.g., item 3 of electronic message 20 of FIG. 2G).

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include an observation operation 540 for observing the one or morephysical characteristics of the authoring user during or proximate to acategorizing by the authoring user of the particular item as illustratedin FIG. 5F. For instance, the observation module 104 of the authoringnetwork device 10 observing (e.g., via a voice response device 150) theone or more physical characteristics (e.g., voice characteristics) ofthe authoring user 18 during or proximate to a categorizing (e.g., via acategorizing module 122) by the authoring user 18 of the particular item21.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include an observation operation 542 for observing the one or morephysical characteristics of the authoring user during or proximate to asubstituting by the authoring user of the particular item as illustratedin FIG. 2F. For instance, the observation module 104 of the authoringnetwork device 10 observing (e.g., via a gaze tracking device 151) theone or more physical characteristics (e.g., eye or iris movement) of theauthoring user 18 during or proximate to a substituting (e.g., via asubstituting module 123) by the authoring user 18 of the particular item21.

In the same or alternative embodiments, the observation operation 406may include an observation operation 544 for observing the one or morephysical characteristics of the authoring user during or proximate to aninserting by the authoring user of the particular item as illustrated inFIG. 5F. For instance, the observation module 104 of the authoringnetwork device 10 observing (e.g., via iris response device 152) the oneor more physical characteristics (e.g., iris dilation) of the authoringuser 18 during or proximate to an inserting (e.g., via an insertingmodule 124) by the authoring user 18 of the particular item 21 into theelectronic message 20.

In various alternative embodiments, the observation of the one or morephysical characteristics of the authoring user may occur during orproximate to other types of actions (which may be directly or indirectlyconnected to the particular item 21) other than those described above(e.g., creating, deleting, modifying, and so forth). For instance, insome alternative implementations, the observation of the one or morephysical characteristics of the authoring user 18 may occur during orproximate to a searching operation (e.g., in order to find particularinformation) initiated by the authoring user 18 and that may have beenprompted while accessing the particular item 21.

In various embodiments, the observation operation 406 may include anobservation operation 546 for observing the one or more physicalcharacteristics of the authoring user through a time window asillustrated in FIG. 2F. For instance, the observation module 104 of theauthoring network device 10 observing (e.g., via an fMRI device 140and/or an fNIR device 141) the one or more physical characteristics(e.g., blood oxygen or blood volume changes of a brain) of the authoringuser 18 through a time window (e.g., as provided by a time window module126 of time module 36—see FIG. 2D).

In some embodiments, the observation operation 546 may also include anobservation operation 548 for observing the one or more physicalcharacteristics of the authoring user through a time window thatcorresponds to a time window through which the action in connection withthe particular item is performed as illustrated in FIG. 2F. Forinstance, the observation module 104 of the authoring network device 10observing (e.g., via an EEG device 142) the one or more physicalcharacteristics (e.g., electrical activities of the brain) of theauthoring user 18 through a time window (e.g., as provided by a timewindow module 126) that corresponds to a time window (e.g., may be thesame time window or a different time window) through which the action(e.g., creating, modifying, deleting, and so forth) in connection withthe particular item 21 is performed.

In various embodiments, the acquisition operation 302 may include anoperation 602 for acquiring with the data indicative of the inferredmental state of the authoring user a time stamp associated withobserving of one or more physical characteristics of the authoring useras illustrated in FIG. 6. For instance, the acquisition module 30 of theauthoring network device 10 acquiring with the data indicative of theinferred mental state of the authoring user 18 a time stamp (e.g., asprovided by a time stamp module 125 of a time module 36—see FIG. 2D)associated with observing (e.g., as performed, at least in part, by oneor more sensors 48) of one or more physical characteristics of theauthoring user 18.

In some embodiments, operation 602 may further include an operation 604for acquiring with the data indicative of the inferred mental state ofthe authoring user a time stamp associated with the observing of the oneor more physical characteristics of the authoring user, the time stampcorresponding with a time stamp associated with an action performed bythe authoring user and connected to the particular item as furtherillustrated in FIG. 6. For instance, the acquisition module 30 of theauthoring network device 10 acquiring with the data indicative of theinferred mental state of the authoring user 18 a time stamp (e.g., asprovided by a time stamp module 125) associated with the observing ofthe one or more physical characteristics of the authoring user 18, thetime stamp corresponding with a time stamp (e.g., may be the same or adifferent time stamp) associated with an action (e.g., at least one ofcreating, modifying, deleting, and so forth) performed by the authoringuser 18 and connected to the particular item 21.

In various embodiments, acquisition operation 302 may included anoperation 702 for acquiring an indication of an action performed by theauthoring user in connection with the particular item as illustrated inFIGS. 7A and 7B. For instance, the acquisition module 30 of theauthoring network device 10 acquiring an indication (e.g., an identifieror symbolic representation) of an action (e.g., via an action module 34)performed by the authoring user 18 in connection with the particularitem 21.

In some embodiments, operation 702 may include one or more additionaloperations as illustrated in FIGS. 7A and 7B. For example, in particularembodiments, operation 702 may include an operation 704 for acquiring anindication that indicates that the particular item was created by theauthoring user as illustrated in FIG. 7A. For instance, the acquisitionmodule 30 of the authoring network device 10 acquiring an indication(e.g., as provided by action module 34) that indicates that theparticular item 21 was created (e.g., via a creation module 112) by theauthoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, operation 702 may include anoperation 706 for acquiring an indication that indicates that theparticular item was modified by the authoring user as illustrated inFIG. 7A. For instance, the acquisition module 30 of the authoringnetwork device 10 acquiring an indication (e.g., as provided by actionmodule 34) that indicates that the particular item 21 was modified(e.g., via a modification module 113) by the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, operation 702 may include anoperation 708 for acquiring an indication that indicates that theparticular item was deleted by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG.7A. For instance, the acquisition module 30 of the authoring networkdevice 10 acquiring an indication (e.g., as provided by action module34) that indicates that the particular item 21 was deleted (e.g., via adeletion module 114) by the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, operation 702 may include anoperation 710 for acquiring an indication that indicates that theparticular item was relocated in the electronic message by the authoringuser as illustrated in FIG. 7A. For instance, the acquisition module 30of the authoring network device 10 acquiring an indication (e.g., asprovided by action module 34) that indicates that the particular item 21was relocated (e.g., via a relocation module 115) in the electronicmessage 20 by the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, operation 702 may include anoperation 712 for acquiring an indication that indicates that theparticular item was extracted by the authoring user as illustrated inFIG. 7A. For instance, the acquisition module 30 of the authoringnetwork device 10 acquiring an indication (e.g., as provided by actionmodule 34) that indicates that the particular item 21 was extracted(e.g., via an extraction module 116) by the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, operation 702 may include anoperation 714 for acquiring an indication that indicates that theparticular item was forwarded by the authoring user as illustrated inFIG. 7A. For instance, the acquisition module 30 of the authoringnetwork device 10 acquiring an indication (e.g., as provided by actionmodule 34) that indicates that the particular item 21 was forwarded(e.g., via a forwarding module 117) by the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, operation 702 may include anoperation 716 for acquiring an indication that indicates that theparticular item was stored by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG.7B. For instance, the acquisition module 30 of the authoring networkdevice 10 acquiring an indication (e.g., as provided by action module34) that indicates that the particular item 21 was stored (e.g., via astoring module 118) by the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, operation 702 may include anoperation 718 for acquiring an indication that indicates that theparticular item was activated or deactivated by the authoring user asillustrated in FIG. 7B. For instance, the acquisition module 30 of theauthoring network device 10 acquiring an indication (e.g., as providedby action module 34) that indicates that the particular item 21 wasactivated or deactivated (e.g., via an activating and deactivatingmodule 119) by the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, operation 702 may include anoperation 720 for acquiring an indication that indicates that theparticular item was tagged by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG.7B. For instance, the acquisition module 30 of the authoring networkdevice 10 acquiring an indication (e.g., as provided by action module34) that indicates that the particular item 21 was tagged (e.g., via atagging module 120) by the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, operation 702 may include anoperation 722 for acquiring an indication that indicates that theparticular item was associated to another item by the authoring user asillustrated in FIG. 7B. For instance, the acquisition module 30 of theauthoring network device 10 acquiring an indication (e.g., as providedby action module 34) that indicates that the particular item 21 wasassociated (e.g., via an associating module 121) to another item by theauthoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, operation 702 may include anoperation 724 for acquiring an indication that indicates that theparticular item was categorized by the authoring user as illustrated inFIG. 7B. For instance, the acquisition module 30 of the authoringnetwork device 10 acquiring an indication (e.g., as provided by actionmodule 34) that indicates that the particular item 21 was categorized(e.g., via a categorizing module 122) by the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, operation 702 may include anoperation 726 for acquiring an indication that indicates that theparticular item was substituted by the authoring user as illustrated inFIG. 7B. For instance, the acquisition module 30 of the authoringnetwork device 10 acquiring an indication (e.g., as provided by actionmodule 34) that indicates that the particular item 21 was substituted(e.g., via a substituting module 123) by the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, operation 702 may include anoperation 728 for acquiring an indication that indicates that theparticular item was inserted by the authoring user as illustrated inFIG. 7B. For instance, the acquisition module 30 of the authoringnetwork device 10 acquiring an indication (e.g., as provided by actionmodule 34) that indicates that the particular item 21 was inserted(e.g., via an inserting module 124) into the electronic message 20 bythe authoring user 18.

As with the acquisition operation 302 of FIG. 3, the associationoperation 304 depicted in FIG. 3 may include one or more additionaloperations in various embodiments. For example, in some embodiments, theassociation operation 302 may include an inclusion operation 802 forincluding into the electronic message the data indicative of theinferred mental state of the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 8A.For instance, the inclusion module 104 of the authoring network device10 including into the electronic message 20 (e.g., in the proximatelocation of the particular item 21 or in the particular item 21 itselfor in other locations in the electronic message 21) the data indicativeof the inferred mental state (e.g., state of anger, state of happiness,and so forth) of the authoring user 18. The data to be included may bein various forms including, for example, “raw” data provided by one ormore sensors 48, data provided by an inference module 106 that maydirectly identify an inferred mental state for the authoring user 18, orin some other form.

In various implementations, operation 802 may further include one ormore operations. For example, in some implementations, operation 802 mayinclude an operation 804 for including into the particular item orproximate to a location of the particular item in the electronic messagethe data indicative of the inferred mental state of the authoring useras illustrated in FIG. 8A. For instance, the inclusion module 104 of theauthoring network device 10 including into the particular item 21 orproximate (e.g., nearby) to a location of the particular item 21 in theelectronic message 20 the data indicative of the inferred mental state(e.g., state of frustration, state of approval or disapproval, state oftrust, and so forth) of the authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, operation 802 may include anoperation 806 for including into to the electronic message a time stampassociated with the data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user, the time stamp corresponding to a time stamp associatedwith an action performed by the authoring user in connection with theparticular item as illustrated in FIG. BA. For instance, the inclusionmodule 104 of the authoring network device 10 including into to theelectronic message 20 a time stamp (e.g., as provided by a time stampmodule 125) associated with the data indicative of the inferred mentalstate (e.g., state of anger, state of distress, state of pain, and soforth) of the authoring user 18, the time stamp corresponding to a timestamp associated with an action (e.g., creating, modifying, deleting,and so forth) performed by the authoring user 18 in connection with theparticular item 21.

In the same or alternative embodiments, operation 802 may include anoperation 808 for including into the electronic message an identifier tothe data indicative of the inferred mental state of the authoring useras illustrated in FIG. 8A. For instance, the inclusion module 104 of theauthoring network device 10 including into the electronic message 21 anidentifier (e.g., a name, an address, a hyperlink, and so forth) to thedata indicative of the inferred mental state (e.g., state of happiness,state of surprise, state of inattention, and so forth) of the authoringuser 18.

In some implementations, operation 808 may further include an operation810 for including into the electronic message a hyperlink to the dataindicative of the inferred mental state of the authoring user asillustrated in FIG. 8A. For instance, the inclusion module 104 of theauthoring network device 10 including into the electronic message 20 ahyperlink to the data indicative of the inferred mental state (e.g.,state of arousal, state of impatience, state of confusion, and so forth)of the authoring user 18.

In various embodiments, operation 802 may include an operation 812 forincluding into the electronic message metadata indicative of theinferred mental state of the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 8A.For instance, the inclusion module 104 of the authoring network device10 including into the electronic message 20 metadata indicative of theinferred mental state (e.g., state of distraction, state of overallmental activity, state of alertness, state of acuity, and so forth) ofthe authoring user 18.

In the same or alternative embodiments, operation 802 may include anoperation 818 for including into the electronic message data indicativeof the inferred mental state of the authoring user that was obtainedbased, at least in part, on one or more physical characteristics of theauthoring user sensed during or proximate to an action in connectionwith the particular item and performed, at least in part, by theauthoring user as illustrated in FIG. 8B. For instance, the inclusionmodule 104 of the authoring network device 10 including into theelectronic message 20 data indicative of the inferred mental state(e.g., state of anger, state of distress, state of pain, and so forth)of the authoring user 18 that was obtained based, at least in part, onone or more physical characteristics (e.g., cerebral, cardiopulmonary,or system physiological characteristic) of the authoring user 18 sensed(e.g., by a sensing module 108 via one or more sensors 48) during orproximate to an action (e.g., relocating, extracting, forwarding, and soforth) in connection with the particular item 21 and performed, at leastin part, by the authoring user 18.

Operation 818 in various implementations may further include one or moreadditional operations as illustrated in FIGS. 8B to 8H. For instance, insome implementations, operation 818 may include an operation 820 forincluding into the electronic message data indicative of an inferredmental state of the authoring user indicating that the authoring userwas in at least one of a state of anger, a state of distress, or a stateof pain during or proximate to the action in connection with theparticular item as illustrated in FIG. 8B. For instance, the inclusionmodule 104 of the authoring network device 10 including into theelectronic message 21 data indicative of an inferred mental state of theauthoring user 18 (e.g., as provided by acquisition module 30)indicating that the authoring user 18 was in at least one of a state ofanger, a state of distress, or a state of pain during or proximate tothe action (e.g., storing, activating or deactivating, tagging, and soforth) in connection with the particular item 21.

In some implementations, operation 818 may include an operation 822 forincluding into the electronic message data indicative of an inferredmental state of the authoring user indicating that the authoring userwas in at least one of a state of frustration, a state of approval ordisapproval, a state of trust, a state of fear, a state of happiness, astate of surprise, a state of inattention, a state of arousal, a stateof impatience, a state of confusion, a state of distraction, a state ofoverall mental activity, a state of alertness, or a state of acuityduring or proximate to the action in connection with the particular itemas illustrated in FIG. 8B. For instance, the inclusion module 104 of theauthoring network device 10 including into the electronic message 20data indicative of an inferred mental state of the authoring user 18(e.g., as provided by acquisition module 30) indicating that theauthoring user 18 was in at least one of a state of frustration, a stateof approval or disapproval, a state of trust, a state of fear, a stateof happiness, a state of surprise, a state of inattention, a state ofarousal, a state of impatience, a state of confusion, a state ofdistraction, a state of overall mental activity, a state of alertness,or a state of acuity during or proximate to the action (e.g.,associating, categorizing, substituting, inserting, and so forth) inconnection with the particular item 21.

In some implementations, operation 818 may include an operation 824 forincluding into the electronic message data indicative of the inferredmental state of the authoring user that was obtained based on at leastone cerebral characteristic of the authoring user sensed during orproximate to an action in connection with the particular item andperformed, at least in part, by the authoring user as illustrated inFIG. 8C. For instance, the inclusion module 104 of the authoring networkdevice 10 including into the electronic message 20 data indicative ofthe inferred mental state (e.g., state of anger, state of distress,state of pain, and so forth) of the authoring user 18 that was obtained(e.g., via acquisition module 30) based on at least one cerebralcharacteristic (e.g., brain activity) of the authoring user 18 sensed(e.g., via an fMRI device 140, an fNIR device 141, an EEG device 142,and/or MEG device 143) during or proximate to an action (e.g., creating,modifying, deleting, and so forth) in connection with the particularitem 21 and performed, at least in part, by the authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 818 may include an operation 826 forincluding into the electronic message data indicative of the inferredmental state of the authoring user that was obtained based on at leastone cardiopulmonary characteristic of the authoring user sensed duringor proximate to an action in connection with the particular item andperformed, at least in part, by the authoring user as illustrated inFIG. 8C. For instance, the inclusion module 104 of the authoring networkdevice 10 including into the electronic message 20 data indicative ofthe inferred mental state (e.g., state of frustration, state of approvalor disapproval, state of trust, and so forth) of the authoring user 18that was obtained (e.g., via acquisition module 30) based on at leastone cardiopulmonary characteristic (e.g., heart rate) of the authoringuser 18 sensed (e.g., via heart rate sensor device 145) during orproximate to an action (e.g., relocating, extracting, forwarding, and soforth) in connection with the particular item 21 and performed, at leastin part, by the authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 818 may include an operation 828 forincluding into the electronic message data indicative of the inferredmental state of the authoring user that was obtained based on at leastone systemic physiological characteristic of the authoring user sensedduring or proximate to an action in connection with the particular itemand performed, at least in part, by the authoring user as illustrated inFIG. 8C. For instance, the inclusion module 104 of the authoring networkdevice 10 including into the electronic message 20 data indicative ofthe inferred mental state (e.g., state of fear, state of happiness,state of surprise, and so forth) of the authoring user 18 that wasobtained (e.g., via acquisition module 30) based on at least onesystemic physiological characteristic (e.g., blood pressure) of theauthoring user 18 sensed (e.g., via a blood pressure sensor device 146)during or proximate to an action (e.g., storing, activating ordeactivating, tagging, associating, and so forth) in connection with theparticular item 21 and performed, at least in part, by the authoringuser 18.

In some implementations, operation 818 may include an operation 830 forincluding into the electronic message data indicative of the inferredmental state of the authoring user that was obtained based, at least inpart, on at least one of galvanic skin response, heart rate, bloodpressure, or respiration of the authoring user sensed during orproximate to the action in connection with the particular item asillustrated in FIG. 8D. For instance, the inclusion module 104 of theauthoring network device 10 including into the electronic message 20data indicative of the inferred mental state (e.g., state ofinattention, state of arousal, state of impatience, state of confusion,and so forth) of the authoring user 18 that was obtained (e.g., viaacquisition module 30) based, at least in part, on at least one ofgalvanic skin response, heart rate, blood pressure, or respiration ofthe authoring user sensed (e.g., via a galvanic skin sensor device 144,heart rate sensor device 145, blood pressure sensor device 146, and/orrespiration sensor device 147) during or proximate to the action (e.g.,categorizing, substituting, inserting, and so forth) in connection withthe particular item 21.

In some implementations, operation 818 may include an operation 832 forincluding into the electronic message data indicative of the inferredmental state of the authoring user that was obtained based, at least inpart, on at least one of blood oxygen or blood volume changes of a brainof the authoring user sensed during or proximate to the action inconnection with the particular item as illustrated in FIG. 8D. Forinstance, the inclusion module 104 of the authoring network device 10including into the electronic message 20 data indicative of the inferredmental state (e.g., state of distraction, state of overall mentalactivity, state of alertness, state of acuity, and so forth) of theauthoring user 18 that was obtained (e.g., via acquisition module 30)based, at least in part, on at least one of blood oxygen or blood volumechanges of a brain of the authoring user 18 sensed (e.g., via an fMRIdevice 140 and/or an fNIR device 141) during or proximate to the action(e.g., creating, modifying, deleting, and so forth) in connection withthe particular item 21.

In some implementations, operation 818 may include an operation 834 forincluding into the electronic message data indicative of the inferredmental state of the authoring user that was obtained based, at least inpart, on electrical activity of a brain associated with the authoringuser as illustrated in FIG. 8D. For instance, the inclusion module 104of the authoring network device 10 including into the electronic message20 data indicative of the inferred mental state (e.g., state of anger,state of distress, state of pain, and so forth) of the authoring user 18that was obtained (e.g., via acquisition module 30) based, at least inpart, on electrical activity of a brain (e.g., as sensed by EEG device142) associated with the authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 818 may include an operation 836 forincluding into the electronic message data indicative of the inferredmental state of the authoring user that was obtained based, at least inpart, on at least one of facial expression, skin characteristic, voicecharacteristic, eye movement, or iris dilation of the authoring usersensed during or proximate to the action in connection with theparticular item as illustrated in FIG. 8E. For instance, the inclusionmodule 104 of the authoring network device 10 including into theelectronic message 20 data indicative of the inferred mental state(e.g., state of happiness, state of surprise, state of inattention, andso forth) of the authoring user 18 that was obtained (e.g., viaacquisition module 30) based, at least in part, on at least one offacial expression, skin characteristic, voice characteristic, eyemovement, or iris dilation of the authoring user 18 sensed (e.g., viafacial expression sensor device 148, skin characteristic sensor device149, voice response device 150, gaze tracking device 151, and/or irisresponse device 152) during or proximate to the action (e.g., creating,modifying, deleting, and so forth) in connection with the particularitem 21.

In some implementations, operation 818 may include an operation 838 forincluding into the electronic message data indicative of the inferredmental state of the authoring user that was obtained based, at least inpart, on data obtained in response to a functional magnetic resonanceimaging procedure or a functional near infrared procedure performed onthe authoring user during or proximate to the action in connection withthe particular item as illustrated in FIG. 8E. For instance, theinclusion module 104 of the authoring network device 10 including intothe electronic message 20 data indicative of the inferred mental state(e.g., state of arousal, state impatience, state of confusion, and soforth) of the authoring user 18 that was obtained (e.g., via acquisitionmodule 30) based, at least in part, on data obtained in response to afunctional magnetic resonance imaging procedure (e.g., using an fMRIdevice 140) or a functional near infrared procedure (e.g., using an fNIRdevice 141) performed on the authoring user 18 during or proximate tothe action (e.g., creating, modifying, deleting, and so forth) inconnection with the particular item 21.

In some implementations, operation 818 may include an operation 840 forincluding into the electronic message data indicative of the inferredmental state of the authoring user that was obtained based, at least inpart, on data obtained in response to a magnetoencephalography (MEG)procedure or an electroencephalography (EEG) procedure performed on theauthoring user during or proximate to the action in connection with theparticular item as illustrated in FIG. 8E. For instance, the inclusionmodule 104 of the authoring network device 10 including into theelectronic message 20 data indicative of the inferred mental state(e.g., state of distraction, state of overall mental activity, state ofalertness, state of acuity, and so forth) of the authoring user 18 thatwas obtained (e.g., via acquisition module 30) based, at least in part,on data obtained in response to a magnetoencephalography (MEG) procedure(e.g., using an MEG device 143) or an electroencephalography (EEG)procedure (e.g., using an EEG device 142) performed on the authoringuser 18 during or proximate to the action (e.g., creating, modifying,deleting, and so forth) in connection with the particular item 21.

In some implementations, operation 818 may include an operation 842 forincluding into the electronic message an indication of an action inconnection with the particular item and performed, at least in part, bythe authoring user as illustrated in FIGS. 8F to 8H. For instance, theinclusion module 104 of the authoring network device 10 including intothe electronic message 20 an indication (e.g., as provided by an actionmodule 34) of an action (e.g., creating, modifying, deleting, and soforth) in connection with the particular item 21 and performed, at leastin part, by the authoring user 18.

In various implementations, operation 842 may include one or moreadditional operations. For example, in some implementations, operation842 may include an operation 844 for including into the electronicmessage an indication of an action in connection with the particularitem that indicates that the particular item was created by theauthoring user as illustrated in FIG. 8F. For instance, the inclusionmodule 104 of the authoring network device 10 including into theelectronic message 20 an indication of an action (e.g., as provided byan action module 34) in connection with the particular item 21 thatindicates that the particular item 21 was created (e.g., via a creationmodule 112) by the authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 842 may include an operation 846 forincluding into the electronic message an indication of an action inconnection with the particular item that indicates that the particularitem was modified by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 8F. Forinstance, the inclusion module 104 of the authoring network device 10including into the electronic message 20 an indication of an action(e.g., as provided by an action module 34) in connection with theparticular item 21 that indicates that the particular item 21 wasmodified (e.g., via a modification module 113) by the authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 842 may include an operation 848 forincluding into the electronic message an indication of an action inconnection with the particular item that indicates that the particularitem was deleted by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 8F. Forinstance, the inclusion module 104 of the authoring network device 10including into the electronic message 20 an indication of an action(e.g., as provided by an action module 34) in connection with theparticular item 21 that indicates that the particular item 21 wasdeleted (e.g., via a deletion module 114) by the authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 842 may include an operation 850 forincluding into the electronic message an indication of an action inconnection with the particular item that indicates that the particularitem was relocated in the electronic message by the authoring user asillustrated in FIG. 8F. For instance, the inclusion module 104 of theauthoring network device 10 including into the electronic message 20 anindication of an action (e.g., as provided by an action module 34) inconnection with the particular item 21 that indicates that theparticular item 21 was relocated (e.g., via a relocation module 115) inthe electronic message 20 by the authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 842 may include an operation 852 forincluding into the electronic message an indication of an action inconnection with the particular item that indicates that the particularitem was extracted by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 8F. Forinstance, the inclusion module 104 of the authoring network device 10including into the electronic message an indication of an action (e.g.,as provided by an action module 34) in connection with the particularitem 21 that indicates that the particular item 21 was extracted (e.g.,via an extraction module 116) by the authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 842 may include an operation 854 forincluding into the electronic message an indication of an action inconnection with the particular item that indicates that the particularitem was forwarded by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 8G. Forinstance, the inclusion module 104 of the authoring network device 10including into the electronic message 20 an indication of an action(e.g., as provided by an action module 34) in connection with theparticular item 21 that indicates that the particular item 21 wasforwarded (e.g., via a forwarding module 117) by the authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 842 may include an operation 856 forincluding into the electronic message an indication of an action inconnection with the particular item that indicates that the particularitem was stored by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 8G. Forinstance, the inclusion module 104 of the authoring network device 10including into the electronic message 20 an indication of an action(e.g., as provided by an action module 34) in connection with theparticular item 21 that indicates that the particular item 21 was stored(e.g., via a storing module 118) by the authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 842 may include an operation 858 forincluding into the electronic message an indication of an action inconnection with the particular item that indicates that the particularitem was activated or deactivated by the authoring user as illustratedin FIG. 8G. For instance, the inclusion module 104 of the authoringnetwork device 10 including into the electronic message 20 an indicationof an action (e.g., as provided by an action module 34) in connectionwith the particular item 21 that indicates that the particular item 21was activated or deactivated (e.g., via an activating and deactivatingmodule 119) by the authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 842 may include an operation 860 forincluding into the electronic message an indication of an action inconnection with the particular item that indicates that the particularitem was tagged by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 8G. Forinstance, the inclusion module 104 of the authoring network device 10including into the electronic message 20 an indication of an action(e.g., as provided by an action module 34) in connection with theparticular item 21 that indicates that the particular item 21 was tagged(e.g., via a tagging module 120) by the authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 842 may include an operation 862 forincluding into the electronic message an indication of an action inconnection with the particular item that indicates that the particularitem was associated to another item by the authoring user as illustratedin FIG. 8G. For instance, the inclusion module 104 of the authoringnetwork device 10 including into the electronic message 20 an indicationof an action (e.g., as provided by an action module 34) in connectionwith the particular item 21 that indicates that the particular item 21was associated (e.g., via an associating module 121) to another item bythe authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 842 may include an operation 864 forincluding into the electronic message an indication of an action inconnection with the particular item that indicates that the particularitem was categorized by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 8H.For instance, the inclusion module 104 of the authoring network device10 including into the electronic message 20 an indication of an action(e.g., as provided by an action module 34) in connection with theparticular item 21 that indicates that the particular item 21 wascategorized (e.g., via a categorizing module 122) by the authoring user18.

In some implementations, operation 842 may include an operation 866 forincluding into the electronic message an indication of an action inconnection with the particular item that indicates that the particularitem was substituted by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 8H.For instance, the inclusion module 104 of the authoring network device10 including into the electronic message 20 an indication of an action(e.g., as provided by an action module 34) in connection with theparticular item 21 that indicates that the particular item 21 wassubstituted (e.g., via a substituting module 123) by the authoring user18.

In some implementations, operation 842 may include an operation 866 forincluding into the electronic message an indication of an action inconnection with the particular item that indicates that the particularitem was inserted by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 8H. Forinstance, the inclusion module 104 of the authoring network device 10including into the electronic message 20 an indication of an action(e.g., as provided by an action module 34) in connection with theparticular item 21 that indicates that the particular item 21 wasinserted (e.g., via an inserting module 124) by the authoring user 18.

The association operation 304 may further include other additional oralternative operations in various alternative embodiments. For example,the association operation 304 in some implementations may include anoperation 902 for associating the data indicative of the inferred mentalstate of the authoring user with the particular item in response to arequest by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 9A. For instance,the association module 32 of the authoring network device 10 associating(e.g., by including into the electronic message 20) the data (e.g., asprovided by an acquisition module 30) indicative of the inferred mentalstate (e.g., state of anger, state of distress, state of pain, and soforth) of the authoring user 18 with the particular item 21 in responseto a request by the authoring user 18.

In some implementations, the association operation 304 may include anoperation 904 for associating the data indicative of the inferred mentalstate of the authoring user with the particular item in response to atransmission of the electronic message as illustrated in FIG. 9A. Forinstance, the association module 32 of the authoring network device 10associating (e.g., by including into the electronic message 20) the data(e.g., as provided by an acquisition module 30) indicative of theinferred mental state (e.g., state of frustration, state of approval ordisapproval, state of trust, and so forth) of the authoring user 18 withthe particular item 21 in response to a transmission of the electronicmessage 20.

In some implementations, association operation 304 may include anoperation 906 for associating the data indicative of the inferred mentalstate of the authoring user with the particular item in response to astoring of the electronic message as illustrated in FIG. 9A. Forinstance, the association module 32 of the authoring network device 10associating (e.g., by including into the electronic message 20) the data(e.g., as provided by an acquisition module 30) indicative of theinferred mental state (e.g., state of fear, state of happiness, state ofsurprise, and so forth) of the authoring user 18 with the particularitem 21 in response to a storing (e.g., in memory or to a networkserver) of the electronic message 20.

In some implementations, the association operation 304 may include anoperation 908 for associating the data indicative of the inferred mentalstate of the authoring user with the particular item in response to anaction in connection with the particular item and performed, at least inpart, by the authoring user as illustrated in FIGS. 9B and 9C. Forinstance, the association module 32 of the authoring network device 10associating (e.g., by including into the electronic message 20) the data(e.g., as provided by an acquisition module 30) indicative of theinferred mental state (e.g., state of inattention, state of arousal,state of impatience, and so forth) of the authoring user 18 with theparticular item 21 in response to an action (e.g., creating, modifying,deleting, and so forth) in connection with the particular item 21 andperformed, at least in part, by the authoring user 18 (e.g., via anaction module 34).

In various embodiments, operation 908 may include one or more additionaloperations as illustrated in FIGS. 9B and 9C. For example, in someimplementations, operation 908 may include an operation 910 forassociating the data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user with the particular item in response to at least acreating of the particular item by the authoring user as illustrated inFIG. 9B. For instance, the association module 32 of the authoringnetwork device 10 associating the data (e.g., as provided by anacquisition module 30) indicative of the inferred mental state (e.g.,state of confusion, state of distraction, state of overall mentalactivity, state of alertness, state of acuity, and so forth) of theauthoring user 18 with the particular item 21 in response to at least acreating (e.g., via a creation module 112) of the particular item 21 bythe authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 908 may include an operation 912 forassociating the data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user with the particular item in response to at least amodifying of the particular item by the authoring user as illustrated inFIG. 9B. For instance, the association module 32 of the authoringnetwork device 10 associating the data (e.g., as provided by anacquisition module 30) indicative of the inferred mental state (e.g.,state of anger, state of distress, state of pain, and so forth) of theauthoring user 18 with the particular item 21 in response to at least amodifying (e.g., via a modification module 113) of the particular item21 by the authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 908 may include an operation 914 forassociating the data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user with the particular item in response to a deleting of theparticular item by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 9B. Forinstance, the association module 32 of the authoring network device 10associating the data (e.g., as provided by an acquisition module 30)indicative of the inferred mental state (e.g., state of frustration,state of approval or disapproval, state of trust, and so forth) of theauthoring user with the particular item in response to a deleting (e.g.,via a deletion module 114) of the particular item 21 by the authoringuser 18.

In some implementations, operation 908 may include an operation 916 forassociating the data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user with the particular item in response to a relocating ofthe particular item in the electronic message by the authoring user asillustrated in FIG. 9B. For instance, the association module 32 of theauthoring network device 10 associating the data (e.g., as provided byan acquisition module 30) indicative of the inferred mental state (e.g.,state of fear, state of happiness, state of surprise, and so forth) ofthe authoring user 18 with the particular item 21 in response to arelocating (e.g., via a relocation module 115) of the particular item 21in the electronic message 20 by the authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 908 may include an operation 918 forassociating the data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user with the particular item in response to an extracting ofthe particular item by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 9B. Forinstance, the association module 32 of the authoring network device 10associating the data (e.g., as provided by an acquisition module 30)indicative of the inferred mental state (e.g., state of inattention,state of arousal, state of impatience, and so forth) of the authoringuser 18 with the particular item 21 in response to an extracting (e.g.,via an extraction module 116) of the particular item 21 by the authoringuser 18.

In some implementations, operation 908 may include an operation 920 forassociating the data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user with the particular item in response to a forwarding ofthe particular item by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 9B. Forinstance, the association module 32 of the authoring network device 10associating the data (e.g., as provided by an acquisition module 30)indicative of the inferred mental state (e.g., state of confusion, stateof distraction, state of overall mental activity, state of alertness,state of acuity, and so forth) of the authoring user 18 with theparticular item 21 in response to a forwarding (e.g., via a forwardingmodule 117) of the particular item 21 by the authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 908 may include an operation 922 forassociating the data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user with the particular item in response to a storing of theparticular item by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 9B. Forinstance, the association module 32 of the authoring network device 10associating the data (e.g., as provided by an acquisition module 30)indicative of the inferred mental state (e.g., state of anger, state ofdistress, state of pain, and so forth) of the authoring user 18 with theparticular item 21 in response to a storing (e.g., via a storing module118) of the particular item 21 by the authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 908 may include an operation 924 forassociating the data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user with the particular item in response to an activating ordeactivating of the particular item by the authoring user as illustratedin FIG. 9C. For instance, the association module 32 of the authoringnetwork device 10 associating the data (e.g., as provided by anacquisition module 30) indicative of the inferred mental state (e.g.,state of frustration, state of approval or disapproval, state of trust,and so forth) of the authoring user 18 with the particular item 21 inresponse to an activating or deactivating (e.g., via an activating anddeactivating module 119) of the particular item 21 by the authoring user18.

In some implementations, operation 908 may include an operation 926 forassociating the data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user with the particular item in response to a tagging of theparticular item by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 9C. Forinstance, the association module 32 of the authoring network device 10associating the data (e.g., as provided by an acquisition module 30)indicative of the inferred mental state (e.g., state of fear, state ofhappiness, state of surprise, and so forth) of the authoring user 18with the particular item 21 in response to a tagging (e.g., via atagging module 120) of the particular item 21 by the authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 908 may include an operation 928 forassociating the data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user with the particular item in response to an associating ofthe particular item to another item by the authoring user as illustratedin FIG. 9C. For instance, the association module 32 of the authoringnetwork device 10 associating the data (e.g., as provided by anacquisition module 30) indicative of the inferred mental state (e.g.,state of inattention, state of arousal, state of impatience, and soforth) of the authoring user 18 with the particular item 21 in responseto an associating (e.g., via an associating module 121) of theparticular item 21 to another item by the authoring user 18.

In some implementations, operation 908 may include an operation 930 forassociating the data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user with the particular item in response to a categorizing ofthe particular item by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 9C. Forinstance, the association module 32 of the authoring network device 10associating the data (e.g., as provided by an acquisition module 30)indicative of the inferred mental state (e.g., state of confusion, stateof distraction, state of overall mental activity, state of alertness,state of acuity, and so forth) of the authoring user 18 with theparticular item 21 in response to a categorizing (e.g., via acategorizing module 122) of the particular item 21 by the authoring user18.

In some implementations, operation 908 may include an operation 932 forassociating the data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user with the particular item in response to a substituting ofthe particular item by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 9C. Forinstance, the association module 32 of the authoring network device 10associating the data (e.g., as provided by an acquisition module 30)indicative of the inferred mental state (e.g., state of anger, state ofdistress, state of pain, and so forth) of the authoring user 18 with theparticular item 21 in response to a substituting (e.g., via asubstituting module 123) of the particular item 21 by the authoring user18.

In some implementations, operation 908 may include an operation 934 forassociating the data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user with the particular item in response to an inserting ofthe particular item by the authoring user as illustrated in FIG. 9C. Forinstance, the association module 32 of the authoring network device 10associating the data (e.g., as provided by an acquisition module 30)indicative of the inferred mental state (e.g., state of frustration,state of approval or disapproval, state of trust, and so forth) of theauthoring user 18 with the particular item 21 in response to aninserting (e.g., via an inserting module 124) of the particular item 21by the authoring user 18.

In various alternative embodiments, the association of the dataindicative of the inferred mental state of the authoring user with theparticular item may be in response to other types of actions (which maybe directly or indirectly connected to the particular item 21) otherthan those described above (e.g., creating, deleting, modifying, and soforth). For instance, in some alternative implementations, theassociation of the data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user with the particular item may be in response to asearching operation (e.g., in order to find particular information)initiated by the authoring user 18 and that may have been prompted whileaccessing the particular item 21.

Although it was described in the above description that certain physicalcharacteristics of the authoring user 18 are observed and sensed, othertypes of physical characteristics may also be observed and sensed. Forexample, in the above it was described that in some implementations,blood oxygen or blood volume changes of a brain associated with theauthoring user 18 may be sensed and observed, other characteristics ofthe brain associated with the authoring user 18 may also be sensed andobserved including, for example, metabolic changes associated with thebrain. Such characteristics may be sensed using, for example, a positronemission tomography (PET) scanner.

Those having skill in the art will recognize that the state of the arthas progressed to the point where there is little distinction leftbetween hardware and software implementations of aspects of systems; theuse of hardware or software is generally (but not always, in that incertain contexts the choice between hardware and software can becomesignificant) a design choice representing cost vs. efficiency tradeoffs.Those having skill in the art will appreciate that there are variousvehicles by which processes and/or systems and/or other technologiesdescribed herein can be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and/orfirmware), and that the preferred vehicle will vary with the context inwhich the processes and/or systems and/or other technologies aredeployed. For example, if an implementer determines that speed andaccuracy are paramount, the implementer may opt for a mainly hardwareand/or firmware vehicle; alternatively, if flexibility is paramount, theimplementer may opt for a mainly software implementation; or, yet againalternatively, the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware,software, and/or firmware. Hence, there are several possible vehicles bywhich the processes and/or devices and/or other technologies describedherein may be effected, none of which is inherently superior to theother in that any vehicle to be utilized is a choice dependent upon thecontext in which the vehicle will be deployed and the specific concerns(e.g., speed, flexibility, or predictability) of the implementer, any ofwhich may vary. Those skilled in the art will recognize that opticalaspects of implementations will typically employ optically-orientedhardware, software, and or firmware.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments ofthe devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts,and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/orexamples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will beunderstood by those within the art that each function and/or operationwithin such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples can be implemented,individually and/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software,firmware, or virtually any combination thereof. In one embodiment,several portions of the subject matter described herein may beimplemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), orother integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art willrecognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, inwhole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in integratedcircuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or morecomputers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computersystems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors(e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors),as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designingthe circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and or firmwarewould be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light ofthis disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capableof being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, andthat an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described hereinapplies regardless of the particular type of signal bearing medium usedto actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signal bearingmedium include, but are not limited to, the following: a recordable typemedium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk drive, a Compact Disc (CD), aDigital Video Disk (DVD), a digital tape, a computer memory, etc.; and atransmission type medium such as a digital and/or an analogcommunication medium (e.g., a fiber optic cable, a waveguide, a wiredcommunications link, a wireless communication link, etc.).

In a general sense, those skilled in the art will recognize that thevarious aspects described herein which can be implemented, individuallyand/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, orany combination thereof can be viewed as being composed of various typesof “electrical circuitry.” Consequently, as used herein “electricalcircuitry” includes, but is not limited to, electrical circuitry havingat least one discrete electrical circuit, electrical circuitry having atleast one integrated circuit, electrical circuitry having at least oneapplication specific integrated circuit, electrical circuitry forming ageneral purpose computing device configured by a computer program (e.g.,a general purpose computer configured by a computer program which atleast partially carries out processes and/or devices described herein,or a microprocessor configured by a computer program which at leastpartially carries out processes and/or devices described herein),electrical circuitry forming a memory device (e.g., forms of randomaccess memory), and/or electrical circuitry forming a communicationsdevice (e.g., a modem, communications switch, or optical-electricalequipment). Those having skill in the art will recognize that thesubject matter described herein may be implemented in an analog ordigital fashion or some combination thereof.

Those having skill in the art will recognize that it is common withinthe art to describe devices and/or processes in the fashion set forthherein, and thereafter use engineering practices to integrate suchdescribed devices and/or processes into data processing systems. Thatis, at least a portion of the devices and/or processes described hereincan be integrated into a data processing system via a reasonable amountof experimentation. Those having skill in the art will recognize that atypical data processing system generally includes one or more of asystem unit housing, a video display device, a memory such as volatileand non-volatile memory, processors such as microprocessors and digitalsignal processors, computational entities such as operating systems,drivers, graphical user interfaces, and applications programs, one ormore interaction devices, such as a touch pad or screen, and/or controlsystems including feedback loops and control motors (e.g., feedback forsensing position and/or velocity; control motors for moving and/oradjusting components and/or quantities). A typical data processingsystem may be implemented utilizing any suitable commercially availablecomponents, such as those typically found in datacomputing/communication and/or network computing/communication systems.

The herein described subject matter sometimes illustrates differentcomponents contained within, or connected with, different othercomponents. It is to be understood that such depicted architectures aremerely exemplary, and that in fact many other architectures can beimplemented which achieve the same functionality. In a conceptual sense,any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality iseffectively “associated” such that the desired functionality isachieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve aparticular functionality can be seen as “associated with” each othersuch that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective ofarchitectures or intermedial components. Likewise, any two components soassociated can also be viewed as being “operably connected”, or“operably coupled”, to each other to achieve the desired functionality,and any two components capable of being so associated can also be viewedas being “operably couplable”, to each other to achieve the desiredfunctionality. Specific examples of operably couplable include but arenot limited to physically mateable and/or physically interactingcomponents and/or wirelessly interactable and/or wirelessly interactingcomponents and/or logically interacting and/or logically interactablecomponents.

While particular aspects of the present subject matter described hereinhave been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that, based upon the teachings herein, changes and modificationsmay be made without departing from the subject matter described hereinand its broader aspects and, therefore, the appended claims are toencompass within their scope all such changes and modifications as arewithin the true spirit and scope of the subject matter described herein.Furthermore, it is to be understood that the invention is defined by theappended claims.

It will be understood by those within the art that, in general, termsused herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of theappended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term“including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” theterm “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term“includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,”etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if aspecific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such anintent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence ofsuch recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid tounderstanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of theintroductory phrases “at least one” and “one or more” to introduce claimrecitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed toimply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinitearticles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing suchintroduced claim recitation to inventions containing only one suchrecitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases“one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or“an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “atleast one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use ofdefinite articles used to introduce claim recitations.

In addition, even if a specific number of an introduced claim recitationis explicitly recited, those skilled in the art will recognize that suchrecitation should typically be interpreted to mean at least the recitednumber (e.g., the bare recitation of “two recitations,” without othermodifiers, typically means at least two recitations, or two or morerecitations). Furthermore, in those instances where a conventionanalogous to “at least one of A, B, and C, etc.” is used, in generalsuch a construction is intended in the sense one having skill in the artwould understand the convention (e.g., “a system having at least one ofA, B, and C” would include but not be limited to systems that have Aalone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and Ctogether, and/or A, B, and C together, etc.).

In those instances where a convention analogous to “at least one of A,B, or C, etc.” is used, in general such a construction is intended inthe sense one having skill in the art would understand the convention(e.g., “a system having at least one of A, B, or C” would include butnot be limited to systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and Btogether, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and Ctogether, etc.). It will be further understood by those within the artthat virtually any disjunctive word and/or phrase presenting two or morealternative terms, whether in the description, claims, or drawings,should be understood to contemplate the possibilities of including oneof the terms, either of the terms, or both terms. For example, thephrase “A or B” will be understood to include the possibilities of “A”or “B” or “A and B.”

1.-196. (canceled)
 197. A system, comprising: one or more sensorsconfigured to sense one or more physical characteristics of an authoringuser in connection with at least a particular item of an electronicmessage; an acquisition module configured to acquire data indicative ofan inferred mental state of the authoring user in connection with theparticular item based, at least in part, on the one or more physicalcharacteristics sensed by the one or more sensors; and an associationmodule configured to associate the data indicative of the inferredmental state of the authoring user with the particular item.
 198. Thesystem of claim 197, wherein said one or more sensors configured tosense one or more physical characteristics of an authoring user inconnection with at least a particular item of an electronic messagecomprises: one or more sensors configured to sense at least one cerebralcharacteristic associated with the authoring user.
 199. The system ofclaim 197, wherein said one or more sensors configured to sense one ormore physical characteristics of an authoring user in connection with atleast a particular item of an electronic message comprises: one or moresensors configured to sense at least one cardiopulmonary characteristicassociated with the authoring user.
 200. The system of claim 197,wherein said one or more sensors configured to sense one or morephysical characteristics of an authoring user in connection with atleast a particular item of an electronic message comprises: one or moresensors configured to sense at least one systemic physiologicalcharacteristic associated with the authoring user.
 201. The system ofclaim 197, wherein said one or more sensors configured to sense one ormore physical characteristics of an authoring user in connection with atleast a particular item of an electronic message comprises: a functionalmagnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) device.
 202. The system of claim 197,wherein said one or more sensors configured to sense one or morephysical characteristics of an authoring user in connection with atleast a particular item of an electronic message comprises: a functionalnear infrared (fNIR) device.
 203. The system of claim 197, wherein saidone or more sensors configured to sense one or more physicalcharacteristics of an authoring user in connection with at least aparticular item of an electronic message comprises: anelectroencephalography (EEG) device.
 204. The system of claim 197,wherein said one or more sensors configured to sense one or morephysical characteristics of an authoring user in connection with atleast a particular item of an electronic message comprises: amagnetoencephalography (MEG) device.
 205. The system of claim 197,wherein said one or more sensors configured to sense one or morephysical characteristics of an authoring user in connection with atleast a particular item of an electronic message comprises: at least oneof a galvanic skin sensor device, a heart rate sensor device, a bloodpressure sensor device, or a respiration sensor device.
 206. The systemof claim 197, wherein said one or more sensors configured to sense oneor more physical characteristics of an authoring user in connection withat least a particular item of an electronic message comprises: at leastone of a facial expression sensor device, a skin characteristic sensordevice, a voice response device, a gaze tracking device, or an irisresponse device.
 207. (canceled)
 208. The system of claim 197, whereinsaid acquisition module configured to acquire data indicative of aninferred mental state of the authoring user in connection with theparticular item based, at least in part, on the one or more physicalcharacteristics sensed by the one or more sensors comprises: anobservation module configured to observe, via the one or more sensors,the one or more physical characteristics of the authoring user during orproximate to an action performed by the authoring user in connectionwith the particular item. 209.-223. (canceled)
 224. The system of claim197, wherein said acquisition module configured to acquire dataindicative of an inferred mental state of the authoring user inconnection with the particular item based, at least in part, on the oneor more physical characteristics sensed by the one or more sensorscomprises: an acquisition module configured to acquire with the dataindicative of the inferred mental state of the authoring user a timestamp associated with observing of the one or more physicalcharacteristics of the authoring user.
 225. The system of claim 224,wherein said acquisition module configured to acquire with the dataindicative of the inferred mental state of the authoring user a timestamp associated with observing of the one or more physicalcharacteristics of the authoring user further comprises: an acquisitionmodule configured to acquire with the data indicative of the inferredmental state of the authoring user a time stamp associated with theobserving of the one or more physical characteristics of the authoringuser, the time stamp corresponding with a time stamp associated with anaction performed by the authoring user and connected to the particularitem.
 226. The system of claim 197, wherein said acquisition moduleconfigured to acquire data indicative of an inferred mental state of theauthoring user in connection with the particular item based, at least inpart, on the one or more physical characteristics sensed by the one ormore sensors comprises: an acquisition module configured to acquire anindication of an action in connection with the particular item andperformed, at least in part, by the authoring user.
 227. The system ofclaim 226, wherein said acquisition module configured to acquire anindication of an action in connection with the particular item andperformed, at least in part, by the authoring user further comprises; anacquisition module configured to acquire an indication that indicatesthat the particular item was created by the authoring user.
 228. Thesystem of claim 226, wherein said acquisition module configured toacquire an indication of an action in connection with the particularitem and performed, at least in part, by the authoring user furthercomprises; an acquisition module configured to acquire an indicationthat indicates that the particular item was modified by the authoringuser.
 229. The system of claim 226, wherein said acquisition moduleconfigured to acquire an indication of an action in connection with theparticular item and performed, at least in part, by the authoring userfurther comprises; an acquisition module configured to acquire anindication that indicates that the particular item was deleted by theauthoring user.
 230. The system of claim 226, wherein said acquisitionmodule configured to acquire an indication of an action in connectionwith the particular item and performed, at least in part, by theauthoring user further comprises; an acquisition module configured toacquire an indication that indicates that the particular item wasrelocated in the electronic message by the authoring user.
 231. Thesystem of claim 226, wherein said acquisition module configured toacquire an indication of an action in connection with the particularitem and performed, at least in part, by the authoring user furthercomprises; an acquisition module configured to acquire an indicationthat indicates that the particular item was extracted by the authoringuser.
 232. The system of claim 226, wherein said acquisition moduleconfigured to acquire an indication of an action in connection with theparticular item and performed, at least in part, by the authoring userfurther comprises; an acquisition module configured to acquire anindication that indicates that the particular item was forwarded by theauthoring user.
 233. The system of claim 226, wherein said acquisitionmodule configured to acquire an indication of an action in connectionwith the particular item and performed, at least in part, by theauthoring user further comprises; an acquisition module configured toacquire an indication that indicates that the particular item was storedby the authoring user.
 234. The system of claim 226, wherein saidacquisition module configured to acquire an indication of an action inconnection with the particular item and performed, at least in part, bythe authoring user further comprises; an acquisition module configuredto acquire an indication that indicates that the particular item wasactivated or deactivated by the authoring user.
 235. The system of claim226, wherein said acquisition module configured to acquire an indicationof an action in connection with the particular item and performed, atleast in part, by the authoring user further comprises; an acquisitionmodule configured to acquire an indication that indicates that theparticular item was tagged by the authoring user.
 236. The system ofclaim 226, wherein said acquisition module configured to acquire anindication of an action in connection with the particular item andperformed, at least in part, by the authoring user further comprises; anacquisition module configured to acquire an indication that indicatesthat the particular item was associated to another item by the authoringuser.
 237. The system of claim 226, wherein said acquisition moduleconfigured to acquire an indication of an action in connection with theparticular item and performed, at least in part, by the authoring userfurther comprises; an acquisition module configured to acquire anindication that indicates that the particular item was categorized bythe authoring user.
 238. The system of claim 226, wherein saidacquisition module configured to acquire an indication of an action inconnection with the particular item and performed, at least in part, bythe authoring user further comprises; an acquisition module configuredto acquire an indication that indicates that the particular item wassubstituted by the authoring user.
 239. The system of claim 226, whereinsaid acquisition module configured to acquire an indication of an actionin connection with the particular item and performed, at least in part,by the authoring user further comprises; an acquisition moduleconfigured to acquire an indication that indicates that the particularitem was inserted by the authoring user.
 240. The system of claim 197,wherein said acquisition module configured to acquire data indicative ofan inferred mental state of the authoring user in connection with theparticular item based, at least in part, on the one or more physicalcharacteristics sensed by the one or more sensors comprises: aninference module configured to infer a mental state of the authoringuser based, at least in part, on one or more physical characteristics ofthe authoring user sensed by the one or more sensors.
 241. The system ofclaim 240, wherein said inference module configured to infer a mentalstate of the authoring user based, at least in part, on one or morephysical characteristics of the authoring user sensed by the one or moresensors comprises: an inference module configured to infer a mentalstate of the authoring user indicating that the authoring user was in atleast one of a state of anger, a state of distress, or a state of painduring or proximate to an action performed by the authoring user inconnection with the particular item.
 242. The system of claim 240,wherein said inference module configured to infer a mental state of theauthoring user based, at least in part, on one or more physicalcharacteristics of the authoring user sensed by the one or more sensorscomprises: an inference module configured to infer a mental state of theauthoring user indicating that the authoring user was in at least one ofa state of frustration, a state of approval or disapproval, a state oftrust, a state of fear, a state of happiness, a state of surprise, astate of inattention, a state of arousal, a state of impatience, a stateof confusion, a state of distraction, a state of overall mentalactivity, a state of alertness, or a state of acuity during or proximateto an action performed by the authoring user in connection with theparticular item
 243. The system of claim 197, wherein said associationmodule configured to associate the data indicative of the inferredmental state of the authoring user with the particular item comprises:an inclusion module configured to include into the electronic messagethe data indicative of the inferred mental state of the authoring user.244. The system of claim 243, wherein said inclusion module configuredto include into the electronic message the data indicative of theinferred mental state of the authoring user further comprises: aninclusion module configured to include into to the electronic message atime stamp associated with observing of the one or more physicalcharacteristics of the authoring user.
 245. The system of claim 244,wherein said inclusion module configured to include into to theelectronic message a time stamp associated with observing of the one ormore physical characteristics of the authoring user further comprises:an inclusion module configured to include into to the electronic messagea time stamp associated with the observing of the one or more physicalcharacteristics of the authoring user, the time stamp corresponding witha time stamp associated with an action performed by the authoring userand connected to the particular item.
 246. The system of claim 243,wherein said inclusion module configured to include into the electronicmessage the data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user further comprises: an inclusion module configured toinclude into the electronic message an indication of the actionperformed, at least in part, by the authoring user in connection withthe particular item. 247.-259. (canceled)
 260. The system of claim 197,wherein said association module configured to associate the dataindicative of the inferred mental state of the authoring user with theparticular item comprises: an association module configured to associatethe data indicative of the inferred mental state of the authoring userwith the particular item in response to a request by the authoring user.261. The system of claim 197, wherein said association module configuredto associate the data indicative of the inferred mental state of theauthoring user with the particular item comprises: an association moduleconfigured to associate the data indicative of the inferred mental stateof the authoring user with the particular item in response to atransmission of the electronic message.
 262. The system of claim 197,wherein said association module configured to associate the dataindicative of the inferred mental state of the authoring user with theparticular item comprises: an association module configured to associatethe data indicative of the inferred mental state of the authoring userwith the particular item in response to a storing of the electronicmessage.
 263. The system of claim 197, wherein said association moduleconfigured to associate the data indicative of the inferred mental stateof the authoring user with the particular item comprises: an associationmodule configured to associate the data indicative of the inferredmental state of the authoring user with the particular item in responseto an action performed, at least in part, by the authoring user inconnection with the particular item. 264.-276. (canceled)
 277. Thesystem of claim 197, further comprising: an action module configured toexecute one or more actions in connection with the particular item. 278.The system of claim 277, wherein said action module configured toexecute one or more actions in connection with the particular itemcomprises: an action module configured to provide an indication of anaction performed in connection with the particular item. 279.-290.(canceled)
 291. The system of claim 197, further comprising: a timestamp module configured to provide a time stamp in connection with anaction performed with respect to the particular item.
 292. The system ofclaim 197, further comprising: a time window module configured toprovide one or more time windows.